Fire-Up Your Metabolism Researchers at Oxford Polytechnic in England have found that some spicy foods, including chile peppers, boost the body's metabolic rate, which can lead to weight loss. The twelve volunteers in their 1986 study ate identical 766-calorie meals. On the days that the extra spices were added to their meals, participants burned from four to seventy-six additional calories, with an average of 45 calories burned. Before we explain how chiles help to burn calories, let's start with the basics. Metabolism is defined as the sum of all chemical processes that take place in the body as they relate to the movement of nutrients in the blood after digestion, resulting in growth, energy, release of wastes, and other bodily functions.
Metabolism takes place in two steps.
Exercise, body temperature, hormone activity, and digestion can increase the rate of metabolism. This process speeds up the metabolism, and melts calories while preventing new fat from forming. To keep your metabolism running at peak performance, Dr. Bryant Stamford, at the University of Louisville at Kentucky, councils that it is best to put peppers into many small meals throughout the day, instead of sitting down to the traditional three meals a day. Likewise, we've always wondered if chile peppers assist you in eating less because their burn may inhibit your ability to eat too much. While we didn't find any scientific studies to back that up, we know from experience that it is more difficult to overindulge in a hot and spicy meal which causes the mouth to be slightly uncomfortable, than it is to overeat something more bland like potato chips.