Red Hot Chillies Help To Curb Obesity

The best way to stay fit would be to eat a lot of red, hot chillies that can prevent overeating, as it acts on the stomach's nerves and cuts down on the obesity, according to thehindu.

Researchers from University of Adelaide discovered that your "high-fat diet" might bring down the significant hot chilli receptors in the stomach that would indicate "fullness". When it is full, the stomach would stretch out, activating nerves that would signal that it has eaten enough.

"We found that this activation is regulated through hot chilli pepper or TRPV1 receptors in the stomach," said associate professor Amanda Page from University of Adelaide's school of medicine. The team also found that TRPV1 receptors can be disrupted in high fat diet-induced obesity.

Capsaicin, found in hot chillies, brings down the food ingestion in humans. "We discover that deletion of TRPV1 receptors dampens the response of gastric nerves to stretch----resulting in a delayed feeling of fullness and the consumption of more food," Dr. Page explained.

The influence of capsaicin on food intake would be done through the stomach. "It is exciting that we now know that the consumption of capsaicin may be able to prevent overeating through an action on nerves in the stomach," added Stephen Kentish, National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) fellow from University of Adelaide.

Research also needs to probe into the techniques that activate TRPV1 receptors, in order develop a more "palatable therapy".

"We will also do further work to determine why a high-fat diet de-sensitises TRPV1 receptors and investigate if we can reverse the damage," he concluded, according to focusnews.

The paper appeared in the journal PLOS ONE.