Losing weight by eating spicy food

Spicy food, some people love it more than others. Perhaps you have heard somewhere that eating spicy food can help you lose weight more easily. But is this really true? We have looked into this for you. 

Why is a pepper spicy? 

A red pepper contains a substance called capsaicin, which is responsible for making a pepper spicy. It creates a burning sensation when it comes into contact with your mucous membranes. This is why it burns not only when you eat it but also if you get it in your eyes, for example. 

The level of spiciness 

The level of spiciness is measured on the Scoville scale. This scale measures the concentration of capsaicin. A bell pepper, for example, scores a 0 on this scale, which means it is not spicy at all. On the other hand, sambal scores around 2000 on this scale, which is much spicier than a bell pepper. Pepper spray scores between 3 and 5 million on the scale. You definitely don’t want to get that in your eyes! 

Losing weight with hot peppers 

Now you know why peppers are spicy and approximately how spicy they are. But does eating spicy food have any impact on weight loss? 

Energy expenditure 

Daily consumption of spicy food affects your energy balance. Research has shown that people who consumed a red pepper burned slightly more energy than participants who did not add any food to their meal. When you eat a pepper, your thermogenesis increases, and your body uses more energy to burn the food. 

Weight loss 

Eating hot food increases your body’s energy requirements, which may result in eating less. However, the effects are relatively small. 

If you are considering following the pepper diet, it does not yield extremely dramatic results. If you really enjoy peppers, then you should definitely include them in your diet. If you don’t particularly like them, you can achieve similar effects by reducing your daily calorie intake by 50 to 100 calories.