New evidence that chili pepper ingredient fights fat
June 2, 2010
Chili peppers contain an ingredient that may cause weight loss and fight fat. Credit: iStock
Scientists are reporting new evidence that capsaicin, the stuff that gives chili peppers their kick, may cause weight loss and fight fat buildup by triggering certain beneficial protein changes in the body. Their study, which could lead to new treatments for obesity, appears in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research.
Jong Won Yun and colleagues point out that obesity is a major public health threat worldwide, linked to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and other health problems. Laboratory studies have hinted that capsaicin may help fight obesity by decreasing calorie intake, shrinking fat tissue, and lowering fat levels in the blood. Nobody, however, knows exactly how capsaicin might trigger such beneficial effects.
In an effort to find out, the scientists fed high-fat diets with or without capsaicin to lab rats used to study obesity. The capsaicin-treated rats lost 8 percent of their body weight and showed changes in levels of at least 20 key proteins found in fat. The altered proteins work to break down fats. "These changes provide valuable new molecular insights into the mechanism of the antiobesity effects of capsaicin," the scientists say.
More information: "Proteomic Analysis for Antiobesity Potential of Capsaicin on White Adipose Tissue in Rats Fed with a High Fat Diet", Journal of Proteome Research.
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Jun 02, 2010
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Jun 02, 2010
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Jun 02, 2010
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That's nearly a quotable. I might use that during the next couple of weeks. I don't work with rats, so I'll just have to pepper it into conversations.
Jun 02, 2010
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Jun 02, 2010
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Experimental Design
"All animals were randomly divided into three groups, with six animals in each: the normal control group (Nor), the high-fat diet group without capsaicin (HFD-Cap), the high fat diet group with capsaicin (HFD+Cap). Animals in the HFD+Cap group were injected by oral administration of capsaicin (10 mg/kg BW, dissolved in 0.9% saline with 2% ethanol and 10% Tween 80). Normal control and HFD-Cap groups were injected by oral administration of vehicle (0.9% saline with 2% ethanol and 10% Tween 80) once a day for 9 weeks."
So, orally injected capsaicin, at a level of 10mg/kg of body weight.
Jun 02, 2010
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"Chilli, cayenne pepper and red pepper contain between 0.1 mg to 60 mg capsaicin per gram [...]. Given that a tablespoon of ground spice weighs about 8 grams, one tablespoon of ground chili pepper would contain anywhere between 0.8 mg and 480 mg of capsaicin. The hotter the pepper, the more capsaicin it contains."
ref from http://inhumanexp...air.html [with further references at that link]
Jun 02, 2010
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Jun 03, 2010
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Jun 03, 2010
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Jun 03, 2010
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Not sure I understand your question -- do you mean amount of food consumed independent of the added capsaicin?
I don't think the paper says explicitly, other than:
"Rats were maintained on a diet of standard rodent chow or HFD containing 45% fat-derived calories (Sam Yang, Seoul, Korea), with 12 h light and dark cycles at a temperature of 23 ± 2 °C, and under relative humidity of 55% throughout the experimental period."
It looks like attempts were made to get good standardization, but I didn't see a specific reference to, say, actual quantity of food consumed.
Jun 03, 2010
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