Burn Calories
by sid kirchheimer

Return to article Mexican Holidays: The Three Months of Christmas Some Like It (Very) Hot how hot are your peppers?

The "hot" in chili peppers-an ingredient called capsaicin-is an effective weight-loss tool. Not only does eating peppers suppress appetite so you eat less-studies show that people eat fewer calories in a meal that typically includes chili, cayenne, or other types of "hot" peppers-but peppers also rev up metabolism, so you burn more calories even when you're not exercising. Capsaicin can also relieve sinus congestion by stimulating mucous membrane secretions.

At only four calories per tablespoon, chili peppers also provide one-third of the daily recommendation for vitamin C, 10 percent of vitamin A, and several other antioxidants. (Think of antioxidants as the Delta Force of nutritional soldiers, flushing out destructive oxygen molecules responsible for some of the ravages of aging.)

May we suggest:
Keep some red pepper powder handy, and get in the habit of adding a pinch to soups, omelets, and sauces.

Originally published in AARP The Magazine, September-October 2003

 

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