The Mediterranean Diet is consistently labeled the best, but it’s not the only way to lose weight. According to a recent study, just adding more spice to your diet with hot peppers could help you drop excess pounds.
Scientists at Pennsylvania State University’s Sensory Evaluation Center studied how spice changes the quantity of food people eat.
“We know from previous studies that when people slow down, they eat significantly less,” says the study’s lead author, Paige Cunningham. “We suspected that making a meal spicier might slow people down.”
That hunch was right, according to the results. The researchers found that increasing “oral burn” — aka spice — led participants to eat less during a meal, thus reducing calorie intake.
Researchers only “slightly” increased the spiciness by adding dried chili pepper to dishes, but it was enough to reduce the amount of food that participants consumed during meals.
“While portion control wasn’t the explicit goal of this study, our results suggest this might work. Next time you’re looking to eat a little less, try adding a blast of chilies, as it may slow you down and help you eat less,” says John Hayes, Penn State professor of food science and corresponding author on the study.
This works, according to the study’s authors, because increasing spiciness resulted in slower eating. Slower eating means food stays in the mouth longer, which helps signal the brain feelings of fullness, prompting people to eat less.
Even better, the chili pepper didn’t negatively affect “the palatability” of dishes.
The team ran three experiments with 130 adult participants who ate mild or spicy versions of either beef chili or chicken tikka masala. The researchers controlled the spiciness carefully by varying the amount of hot paprika or sweet paprika (a spice made from dried, ground red peppers) in the dishes.
The team collected ratings on appetite, spiciness and how much participants liked the dish before and after the meal. Participants were recorded on high-definition video as they ate and monitored to determine the following:
- The amount of food and water consumed
- Meal duration
- Eating speed (grams per minute)
- Bite rate
- Bite size
Participants who had the spicier versions of the meals reported feeling similarly as full as those who had the milder versions, despite eating less of the dish.
Researchers also note that water intake didn’t vary greatly between groups, so that isn’t what led to greater feelings of fullness among the spicier group.
“What’s critical here is that the reduction in intake occurred without negatively impacting how much participants liked the food,” Hayes says.
If you think you can handle a little extra spice during your next meal, this may be your sign to give it a shot.
Add a Comment