A new and fascinating study from the University of Pennsylvania in the United States found a very simple way to reduce food and calorie intake, simply by adding spicy seasonings to meals. Researchers found that eating chili peppers and similar spices directly affects the amount of food we consume in each meal, without the need for complex diets or major sacrifices.
The study, published in the scientific journal Food Quality and Preference, which specializes in food science, presents clear findings: meals seasoned with spicy spices cause people to reduce the amount of food they eat and the calories they receive, without conscious effort.
What is behind the findings?
The lead researcher explained the logic behind the study: “We know that when a person eats slowly, they eat a smaller amount of food. We believe that spicy meals cause a person to eat slowly, and we conducted a scientific experiment to verify this hypothesis.” This hypothesis is based on a well-known principle in nutrition – slow eating allows the brain to receive signals of fullness from the stomach, leading to reduced food consumption. But the question was whether spicy spices can actually slow the pace of eating and lead to the desired outcome.
The scientific experiment
Researchers designed a carefully controlled experiment. They served volunteers meals with different levels of chili spice while precisely measuring the amount of food each participant consumed. It is important to note that researchers ensured the overall taste of the meal remained consistent, so the only change was the level of spiciness. The results were clear and convincing: as the amount of spicy seasoning increased, it affected the speed of meal consumption and reduced the amount of food and calories consumed by each participant.
The mechanism behind the effect
The lead researcher detailed the main findings: “Participants in the experiment consumed spicy food more slowly in the sense that they kept the food in their mouths for longer periods, which helps give a feeling of fullness, causing them to eat smaller amounts of food.” The physiological mechanism is actually simple: the spiciness causes people to chew more slowly and keep the food in their mouth longer. This extra time allows the brain to receive signals about stomach fullness, and as a result, the person feels full faster and stops eating before consuming too much food.
Practical application to combat overeating
A professor of nutrition involved in the study sees great potential for addressing common dietary problems. According to him, the findings “indicate the possibility of using chili peppers as a strategy to limit the problem of excessive food consumption.” This suggestion is particularly interesting in an era where overeating is a major nutritional problem in Western countries. Unlike complex diets or expensive supplements, adding spicy seasonings to meals is an inexpensive, available, and simple solution to implement.