Red Hot Chilli Peppers for Weight Loss! Can Capsicum Extract Reduce Body Fat?


We all know the burning sensation we get when we eat Red Hot Chilli peppers is! This is caused by the capsaicinoids in the plant, which for all intents and purposes is used interchangeably with Capsicum Extract.

Consumption of these capsaicinoids has been shown to increase energy expenditure and may increase overall metabolism.

A recent six week study entitled “Capsaicinoids Supplementation Reduces Appetite and Body Circumferences in Healthy Men and Women: A Placebo Controlled Randomized Double Blind Study” , set out to determine whether this Capsicum Extract could indeed be used for weight loss.

The study was done on 77 healthy male and female participants, randomly assigned by fat mass to ingest either 2mg or 4mg of a Capsicum Extract supplement, or a placebo.

All of the participants were instructed to keep their usual diet and physical activity levels, and requested to restrict their consumption of spicy food and all received some instructions on caloric intake.

The Capsicum Extract was taken with 8 oz of water after breakfast.

The researchers found that the waist to hip ratio measurements showed a main effect for time with post-hoc tests revealing a significant decrease in the 2mg Capsicum Extract group from the first day of study to the sixth week.

The researchers concluded that the data showed that Capsicum Extract may be beneficial for decreasing measures of appetite, which can support weight management but that further long-term studies in relation to other metabolic factors are required.

Title: Capsaicinoids Supplementation Reduces Appetite and Body Circumferences in Healthy Men and Women A Placebo Controlled Randomized Double Blind Study

Authors: Stacie L Urbina, Katelyn Beth Villa, Emily Santos, Alyssa Olivencia, Haley Bennett, Marissa Lara, Cliffa Foster, Lem Taylor, Mike Roberts, Wesley Kephart, Martin Purpura, Ralph Jaeger and Colin Wilborn

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