Can peppers help with weight loss?

May 24, 2010 2 Comments by

A small trial conducted by Lee et al (2010) looked at dihydrocapsiate (DCT) and weight loss. DCT is a compound found in peppers, belonging to the family of capsinoids.  The study consisted of fifty-one clinically overweight adults. All the participants followed a liquid meal-replacement diet that included just 800 calories daily. They were then randomly assigned to receive either a DCT capsule (either three or nine milligrams) or a placebo daily for four weeks. The results were a significant increase in energy expenditure in those receiving 9mg/day of DCT.

Now here is the problem with this study, there were only 51 participants enrolled. More importantly, only 33 completed the study. 800cal/day is an extremely difficult diet to follow.

So bottom line…

Does DCT help with weight loss? Possibly by increasing metabolism.

Is it a miracle cure for weight loss? Definitely not.

Refernce:

Lee TY, Zerlin A, Thames G, et al. Effects of dihydrocapsiate on diet-induced thermogenesis following 4 weeks of very low calorie dieting. FASEB Journal. 2010(24).

General, Health, Nutrition

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  • http://www.simplehealthguide.com/ Gina Smith

    Dr. Sean this is very interesting to see in near future if we can make a solution on weight loss. that was a nice try to find out, keep going.. and thanks for sharing.

  • http://www.drseanhashmi.com Dr. Sean

    Hi Gina.Thanks for checking out the site. Lots more great stuff to come.