Dubai, United Arab Emirates – An American study revealed that adding a touch of hot spices to a meal is an effective way to reduce the amount of food a person eats and thus limit the calories he obtains.
According to a study conducted by a research team from the University of Pennsylvania, researchers found that hot peppers and similar spices affect the amount of food an individual eats at each meal.
The study, published in the scientific journal Food Quality and Prevention, which specializes in food sciences, confirmed that seasoned meals make a person reduce the amount of food he eats and the calories he gets.
“We know that when a person eats slowly, they eat less food,” says study team leader Paige Cunningham.
She added: “We believe that spicy meals make a person eat slowly, and we conducted a scientific experiment to confirm this hypothesis”.
The experiment involved providing meals seasoned with different grades of chili peppers to a group of volunteers.
In addition to measuring the amount of food each volunteer eats while maintaining the overall taste of the meal.
The experiment showed that increasing the amount of hot spices affects the speed of eating a meal and reduces the food and calories consumed by each volunteer.
Cunningham explained that participants in the experiment ate spicy food at a slower pace.
Meaning they kept food in their mouths longer.
Which helps give a feeling of fullness and satiety, and makes them eat less food.
Researcher John Hayes, professor of nutritional sciences and one of the study participants, confirmed that these results “indicate the possibility of using hot peppers as a strategy to reduce the problem of excessive food consumption”.
