Does Spicy Food Speed Your Metabolism?

With more than two-thirds of the population either overweight or obese, according to a government survey, Americans are looking for ways to boost their metabolism and lose weight. No one superfood or magic pill can miraculously rev up your metabolism and cause you to start burning fat. Not only are most fad diets and diet pills ineffective, but some may actually cause health problems. If you are serious about boosting your metabolism and losing weight, consult a qualified doctor or nutritionist to devise an individual plan to help you safely lose weight.

Spicy Food

Any type of food you eat causes your metabolism to increase slightly for roughly five hours after you eat, the UCLA Student Nutrition Awareness Campaign explains. Your body must expend energy in order to break down, absorb, transport and store the nutrients in food. Certain foods, such as spicy foods, require more energy to process than other foods and boost your metabolism to a greater extent. In fact, eating spicy food increases your metabolism approximately 8 percent more than eating other foods, reports an article published in the Nov. 28, 2006, issue of "The New York Times."

Effect on Weight Loss

A temporary 8 percent increase in metabolism is unlikely to have a substantial effect on your overall metabolic rate and weight, according to researchers at the University of New Mexico. The energy spent digesting food accounts for only one-tenth of the total calories your body burns in a given day, and slightly increasing that one-tenth of your metabolic expenditure is not likely to have a significant effect on weight loss.

Effect of Food on Metabolism

The foods you eat and your eating habits do have an effect on your metabolism, however. When you do not eat for a long time, such as sleeping overnight, your metabolism slows down as your body attempts to conserve energy. Eating breakfast in the morning lets your body know that energy is available and that it does not need to conserve energy, which increases metabolism. Eating small meals consistently throughout the day has a similar effect, which prevents your body from going into energy conservation mode and reducing your metabolic rate, Illinois State University Campus Dining Services explains.

Exercise

One major effect on your overall metabolic rate is the amount of lean muscle mass on your body. Maintaining muscle mass requires more calories than maintaining fat, meaning that adding muscle mass increases your metabolism. In addition, aerobic exercise increases your metabolism while you are exercising and for a while after you finish, which causes you to burn more calories than if you were sedentary. Even small periods of activity throughout the day, such as walking up stairs or walking across a large parking lot, can help you burn more calories each day.