Many of us love (or hate) the spice and pungency of hot peppers, and the heat we feel, they create in our tongue, mouth and ears. Eventually, there are many evidences which show that the body heat generating power of peppers might even contribute in our attempts to lose those extra inches that get accumulated around our waistline. A research work has shown that the power of peppers to generate heat can help us in shedding some extra inches.
HOT PEPPERS
And, fortunately for those of us who don’t eat hot peppers, a version of capsaicin called Dihydrocapsiate (DCT) could offer the same benefits as peppers, without causing any pungency.
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) nutritionists have researched and surveyed about the ability of peppers to increase heat production in human subjects, who were on a weight-loss diet. The study was headed by David Heber, professor of medicine and public health. They recruited men and women who were willing to consume a very low-calorie liquid meal replacement product for 28 days.
Researchers, have so far assumed that, these plants evolved to come up with the capsaicin in order to protect themselves from being eaten by insects and other pesky predators. But, now studies have shown that there is much more than what meets the eye, especially for peppers.
The researchers while conducting the study, randomized the subjects to take either placebo pills or supplements containing the non-burning DCT pepper. Two dosage levels of DCT were tested, in the beginning and at the commencement of the study.
The body weight and body fat were measured, and the researchers also ascertained the energy released (heat production) in each subject after he or she consumed one serving of the test meal. Their data gave them some quite relevant and winning evidences that, at least for several hours after the test meal was consumed, energy release was substantially enhanced in the group consuming the highest amount of DCT. It was almost double that of the placebo group.
This indicates that eating this pepper-derived substance, which doesn’t cause any burn or pungent feeling can have the same possible benefit as hot peppers, at least in increasing the food-induced energy production. This DCT can statistically enhance the fat oxidation process, thereby pushing the body to utilize and burn more fat, which can ultimately help people in losing weight, who take a low calorie intake, by increasing the metabolism. The study was presented at the Experimental Biology 2010 meeting in Anaheim, California.
Authors : Camy Divine, EzineArticles.
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