Is it true that spicy food can lose weight?

Is it true that spicy food can lose weight?

For those of you lovers of spicy cuisine who want to lose weight, then you are quite lucky. Besides being delicious, this favorite dish can help you achieve the ideal body weight you want. But, how, huh?

For some people, spicy food is often shunned because it gives a hot sensation on the tongue and stomach when eaten. Even though as long as it is not consumed in excess, this dish holds many healthy benefits, ranging from helping lower blood pressure, improve digestion, to help lose weight.

The Reasons Behind the Benefits of Spicy Food Help You Lose Weight

Although it has not been medically confirmed, there are a number of reasons why you should include spicy dishes in your diet.

Most of these reasons are based on the role of capsaicin, which is a compound most stored in chili or pepper as a source of spicy taste.

Here are the benefits of spicy food and an explanation:

Suppresses appetite

Research shows that taking capsaicin can reduce calorie intake at meals by making you feel full faster. This is due to the effect in the form of a sensation of heat that is given by capsaicin in the gastrointestinal tract.

In addition, capsaicin is also able to inhibit hunger signals from digestion to the brain, so it can help reduce appetite.

Accelerate the body's metabolic processes

Metabolism is the body's process of converting calories from food into energy. An increase in body temperature when taking capsaicin can increase the body's metabolism by up to 5%.

This means eating spicy dishes can help you burn more calories while inhibiting fat storage.

Research also states that people who consume capsaicin can burn about 50 calories more energy each day. That is why the consumption of spicy food is often said to be able to lose weight.

Help burn fat

Research shows that consuming capsaicin can reduce waist circumference and make your body curve more ideal. This is because capsaicin can increase fat burning by 16%, while preventing the accumulation of fat in the body.

Is it safe to consume spicy food?

Consumption of spicy foods rich in capsaicin, such as cayenne pepper, red chili, or jalapeno, can help you lose weight if eaten safely and in moderation.

In general, capsaicin is relatively safe and does not have a negative impact as long as it is consumed in reasonable quantities. It's just that, in some people, eating spicy food can actually increase appetite.

This needs to be watched out for, because eating spicy dishes in excess, especially continuously, can trigger a variety of digestive disorders, ranging from inflammation or injury to the gastrointestinal tract, diarrhea, and even stomach cancer.

Unpleasant side effects can also occur when you take it in supplement form. Capsaicin supplements can irritate the digestive tract and trigger heartburn.

Not only that, the content of capsaicin in spicy foods can react with certain drugs, such as aspirin. Therefore, you should consult a doctor if you like to eat spicy food, especially if you are undergoing certain medications or will undergo surgery.