Peppers are vegetables rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals but low in calories, making them a good addition to any weight-loss diet. The fiery burn of hot peppers, from jalepenos to habeneros, provide an even better weight-loss boost, containing elements that rev up the metabolism and help you eat less and burn fat.
Eat Less
Eating spicy foods helps you eat more slowly, allowing the body's natural satiety indicators to be triggered and tell you when to stop eating. The usual American diet is pretty bland, encouraging fast eating that doesn't allow the body time to signal when to stop, according to Dr. David Heber, Director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition. Hot peppers are particularly good at the task of signalling satiety. The component capsaicin, which gives hot peppers their zing, binds to receptor in the tongue and intestinal tract that tells that brain that it's time to stop eating. This means you'll eat firehouse-hot chili more slowly than a bland dish and stop eating sooner, meaning you will consume fewer calories.
Low Calories
Peppers, including hot peppers, are low in calories and high in nutrients. One whole small ripe pepper, or about 3/4 of a cup of chopped fresh pepper, has less than 20 calories and is high in vitamins A and C as well as potassium. Loading a salad or pizza with peppers, hot and sweet, creates a large bulk of flavor and dietary fiber that will be a filling meal, but with very few calories. Replacing part of the calorie-dense meats and cheeses in chili, burritos or nachos with chopped peppers will increase the flavor and decrease the fat and calorie content, making the dish a boon to a weight-loss diet.
Thermogenesis
Chili peppers trigger the process of thermogenesis, by which cells turn fuel energy to heat, according to MedIndia. Capsaicin, the ingredient in hot peppers that causes a burn, alters the usual activity of a muscle protein called SERCA, causing it to burn off energy as heat. The action is similar to that caused by ephedra, according to Northwestern University's Medill Reports, but without the potentially dangerous cardiovascular side effects found with ephedra consumption. Although the thermogenic effect of eating peppers is small, it does amount to burning off calories as heat, and so serves as an aid to dieters.
Capsiate
Capsiate, a component of the capsaicin found in hot peppers, increases metabolism by increasing resting oxygen consumption and burning body fat, according to researchers at McMaster University. Eating capsiate increases feelings of alertness, leading people who eat it to feel more awake and energized by triggering an adrenaline response. This response burns more calories even at rest, but also makes it easier and more inviting to engage in fat-burning exercise. Caffeine and ephedra create similar feelings of alertness and energy, but with potentially negative side effects not found in eating capsiate-containing hot peppers.
References
- Indiana University Sound Medicine: Spicy Peppers and Weight Loss
- Chicago Northwestern University Medill Reports; Peppers are Hot--As a Health and Diet Aid; Darren Swan; October 2, 2007
- ClinicalTrials.gov: The Accute Effects of Capsiate During Exercise
- MedIndia.com; Capsaicin in Chili Peppers Increases Metabolism, Body Temperature; Thilaka Ravi; August 8, 2008
- University of Illinois Extension: Peppers
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