Article:
Red pepper may help burn calories

A study published in Physiology & Behavior shows that red pepper not only adds heat to food, it may also enhance the body’s heat by burning additional calories following a meal. The Purdue University researchers suggest that the active compound in red pepper, capsaicin, may be responsible for the benefits, and they conclude that eating foods prepared with red pepper may optimize this effect and aid weight management.

The study explored the effects of red pepper in 25 healthy, lean adult men and women—half of the participants were hot spice “users,” and the others did not regularly use such spices. When the adults ingested 1 g of red pepper (equivalent to about 1/2 teaspoon) in a test meal, internal body temperature and postprandial energy expenditure (heat released as the body digests food) increased after the meal—small changes that the researchers suggest could contribute to weight loss or maintenance over time. The researchers noted that the dose used was “modest” and “plausible”—an amount that could reasonably be incorporated in a typical diet.

The changes were more pronounced for adults who didn’t typically eat spicy foods, suggesting that people accustomed to hot spice may become desensitized to the full benefits. In addition to changes in body temperature and energy expenditure, when red pepper was mixed into a meal rather than ingested in capsules, the proportion of energy burned from carbohydrate compared to fat (the Respiratory Quotient or RQ) was significantly lower, indicating more fat was burned and suggesting that oral exposures are necessary to achieve red pepper’s maximum benefits. Also, energy intakes were lower in a subsequent meal, and appetite effects, including preoccupation with food, tended to decrease compared to when they ate meals without red pepper.

http://www.ift.org/food-technology/newsletters/ift-weekly-newsletter/2011/may/050411.aspx#research5.