Red Pepper: The Natural Fat-burner

Cayenne (image courtesy of http://images.teamsugar.com)

Red pepper (capsicum frutescens), aside from being a well known culinary spice with a mouth-burning flavor has fat burning properties as well.

Red pepper, also known as cayenne, is believed to rev up your metabolism by creating heat, according to Dr. Maggie Robinson. After you eat hot, spicy foods, your body heats up in a process known as “diet-induced thermogenesis.” When body heat rises, so does metabolism, and more calories are burned.

Several studies have measured the metabolic effects of spicing up meals with red pepper. When 10 gm of red pepper was added to high-carbohydrate or high-fat meals, the spice significantly boosts thermogenesis, plus helped oxidize, or burn, the fatty portion of the meals, according to one study. Another study found that adding 6 to 10 gm of red pepper to meals had an appetite suppressing effect on a group of men and women.

While the dosages used in these studies were much larger than would normally be consumed, you may not have to eat that much spice to benefit. Just 3 gm each of chili sauce (which contains red pepper) and mustard sauce added to meals spiked metabolic rate by 25% in another study.

Red pepper is also an ingredient in many natural weight-loss supplements and may work in concert with other natural fat burners, according to some research. Besides, red pepper has a long history of use as a spice and is considered a very safe herb.