Black pepper is a natural fat burner!

by Laura Lewis (Subscribe to Laura Lewis's posts)
Aug 12th 2008 9:30AM

Categories: Healthy Habits, Obesity, Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

"Globally there are more than one-billion overweight adults and at least 300 million of them are obese." I wrote this in my book -- 52 Ways to a Healthy You -- as part of the introduction to a chapter dedicated to Jump Starting Your Metabolism with Herbs. Many people are on the perpetual quest to lose weight and to keep it off. Help is right under our noses. Mother Nature has created a few perfect fat-burning solutions.

It turns out, various plants, such as black pepper, have "thermogenic" gifts ... they kick your calorie burning mechanisms into a faster-than-normal "gear!" With statistics like those stated above, I would say we need all the help we can get!

What if I were to tell you if you included with every meal one tsp of a certain type of sauce along with one tsp of a specific spice that it would increase your metabolic rate by up to 25% per day: Would you do it? Indeed, it's true.

Want to find out what the mystery sauce and spice are? To learn more about Mother Nature's Fat Burning solutions, then check out this post I wrote for our Summer Slim Down Guide on 5 Natural Fat Burners.

Now will someone please pass the pepper so I can get my metabolic rate back up to speed!

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Comments (12)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

laura b 8-12-2008 @ 10:44AM

Actually, black pepper is a diuretic, so you will only temporarily loose water weight. But, it tastes good, & it won't cause you to GAIN weight, so enjoy it as much as you'd like.

Laura Lewis 8-12-2008 @ 11:49PM

Indeed known to be a diuretic as well as a diaphoretic, (increases sweating!), black pepper does turn up the body's heat. Piperine, the key active component in black pepper, is thought to promote rapid absorption of nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract. When one adds black pepper to foods it causes a release of catecbolamines that initiate the process of thermogenesis in the GI tract, thereby increasing the energy available for digestion. Additionally, Piperine is noted in several studies to "bind to so-called Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid (TRPV1)receptors in the brain and other parts of the nervous system. TRPV1 works as the bodys thermometer and, once activated, turns up the heat by boosting heat production by the body." One last item, use fresh ground pepper as the outside of the peppercorn is thought to be the most potent!

Rachel 8-12-2008 @ 3:25PM

I heard the Hillary Clinton eats hot peppers to lose weight. Same principle. I found that adding a tablespoon of flax to my diet really helped me to lose weight. I add it to low fat yogurt in the morning and it is filling delicious and it has the side beneft of making my skin better too. I discovered a product called fitflax http://www.fitflax.com which is a chia/roasted golden flax blend that tastes great and does not need any grinding.

Dr. J 8-12-2008 @ 3:38PM

Black pepper may have carcinogenic properties. I suggest some moderation in it's use.

Juggernaut 8-12-2008 @ 10:50PM

According to current research, black pepper is actually an anti-oxidant and and has anti-cancer properties. If you look closely at the data with it being carcinogenic, they used mega-dosing in rats. Dr. Weil suggests a little bit added to foods every day like Laura suggested is actually quite healthy. Great article Laura..I agree completely!

Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2007;47(8):735-48.

Black pepper and its pungent principle-piperine: a review of diverse physiological effects.

Srinivasan K.

Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, India. ksri.cftri@gmail.com

Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is one of the most widely used among spices. It is valued for its distinct biting quality attributed to the alkaloid, piperine. Black pepper is used not only in human dietaries but also for a variety of other purposes such as medicinal, as a preservative, and in perfumery. Many physiological effects of black pepper, its extracts, or its major active principle, piperine, have been reported in recent decades. Dietary piperine, by favorably stimulating the digestive enzymes of pancreas, enhances the digestive capacity and significantly reduces the gastrointestinal food transit time. Piperine has been demonstrated in in vitro studies to protect against oxidative damage by inhibiting or quenching free radicals and reactive oxygen species. Black pepper or piperine treatment has also been evidenced to lower lipid peroxidation in vivo and beneficially influence cellular thiol status, antioxidant molecules and antioxidant enzymes in a number of experimental situations of oxidative stress. The most far-reaching attribute of piperine has been its inhibitory influence on enzymatic drug biotransforming reactions in the liver. It strongly inhibits hepatic and intestinal aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase and UDP-glucuronyl transferase. Piperine has been documented to enhance the bioavailability of a number of therapeutic drugs as well as phytochemicals by this very property. Piperine's bioavailability enhancing property is also partly attributed to increased absorption as a result of its effect on the ultrastructure of intestinal brush border. Although initially there were a few controversial reports regarding its safety as a food additive, such evidence has been questionable, and later studies have established the safety of black pepper or its active principle, piperine, in several animal studies. Piperine, while it is non-genotoxic, has in fact been found to possess anti-mutagenic and anti-tumor influences.

cathy 8-16-2008 @ 7:03PM

Mustard and mayo are condiments..Black Pepper is a spice

marlene 8-16-2008 @ 7:34PM

Cathy- that's what I thought too!!

Beth 8-16-2008 @ 7:05PM

Hey Rachel, I love fitflax, I sprinkle on my salad and on my husband's salmon. It def tastes great and it helps me with my weight loss program. I have lost 50 pounds, and unfortunately still have quite a bit to go. Fitflax does not taste as good as poptarts, but it def has a tasty nutty taste and I love that it is low in carbs an calories. My dr. gave me a code that gives me 15% off. It is FIT15

Joseph Gander 10-06-2008 @ 10:11PM

Black pepper (Piper nigrum) also has been shown in several studies to aid in lowering testosterone levels in transgendered pre-op men who wish to acquire more feminine qualities such as less hair growth on their bodies and a higher pitched voice.

Bob 8-16-2008 @ 7:24PM

Not everyone is the Same !! Eat whatever you want to and , don't worry about it . If something ails you see a Dr and be honest to what you eat is all ..