Eat less—throw some chillies on the plate

We all know we should be eating less—but how do you cut back if you don’t have the willpower?  Try throwing some hot chillies onto the plate.

Plenty of people like to add spice to their meals—and it does reduce the amount you’re eating. Oral burn, as it’s known, really can help you cut down on the calories by slowing down the rate you eat, say researchers from Penn State.

They tested the idea on 130 volunteers who were served either beef chili or chicken tikka masala, and both meals came in mild and spicy versions. The spiciness was controlled by varying the ratio of hot versus sweet paprika added to the dishes to vary the heat while keeping chili flavour constant.

The researchers recorded the participants while they ate their meals. From the videos, the researchers measured the amount of food and water being consumed, the meal duration, eating speed of grams per minute, bite rate and bite size.

As expected, the volunteers ate the spicier meals more slowly. A slower eating rate often means food is in the mouth longer, which can help signal fullness and lead to eating less. Those who ate the spicy food confirmed that they felt full, even though they had eaten less than the others who were given the mild meals.

What do you think? Start a conversation over on the... WDDTY Community