According to the latest study by researchers from the University of California Los Angeles that adding some spicy hot peppers to a healthy meal may help you to burn a few extra calories and a bit more fat. If you do not like spicy food, you can still take the not-so spicy peppers which can also work to burn fat and speed up metabolism.

The researchers from UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles) Center for Human Nutrition led by David Heber, professor of medicine and public health, found eating dihydrocapsiate (DCT), a non-burning substance related to capsaicin, the pepper-derived substance that does burn, “can have the same potential benefit as hot peppers at least in part by increasing food-induced heat production. They were also able to show that DCT significantly increased fat oxidation, pushing the body to use more fat as fuel.”

They studied the before and after body weight and fat of 34 men and women consuming a low-calorie liquid meal replacement. Three times a day, a third of them were given a placebo pill, a third were were given a pill containing 3 milligrams of DCT, and a third were given a 9 milligram pill.

Those DCT doses weren’t big, Heber says. They’re like a generous sprinkle of seasoning.

What they found was that the people given the most DCT after a meal showed an increase in heat production and fat burning without the burning sensation. That is, DCT acted in their G.I. tracks the way hot peppers do — boosting metabolism. And, the chemical structure of DCT is such that it doesn’t fit the sensors on our tongue that detect pain, so no burning, Heber says.

They found that the 9 milligram, three-times-a-day dose helped the average-sized woman burn an extra 100 calories a day. No magic bullet, but a help, Heber says. (You can download the PowerPoint presentation here).

Still, as boring as it sounds, an overall good diet and regular exercise are the key to weight loss. “If you have chocolate cake with your chili pepper, you’re not going to lose any weight,” he says.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 at 6:20 am and is filed under Diet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.