Hot news.Hot red pepper red pepper: see pepper. spices may keep a lid on blood insulin levels, especially if you're overweight, says a new study. For four weeks, Australian researchers fed 36 people either a bland (spice-free) diet or the same diet plus 30 grams a day of a chili blend that was 55 percent cayenne chili (the rest was water, sugar, salt, acetic acid acetic acid (əsē`tĭk), CH3CO2H, colorless liquid that has a characteristic pungent odor, boils at 118°C;, and is miscible with water in all proportions; it is a weak organic carboxylic acid (see carboxyl group). , and xanthan gum xan·than gum n. A natural gum of high molecular weight produced by culture fermentation of glucose and used as a stabilizer in commercial food preparation. ). The blend supplied a daily dose of 30 mg of capsaicin capsaicin /cap·sa·i·cin/ (kap-sa´i-sin) an alkaloid irritating to the skin and mucous membranes, the active ingredient of capsicum; used as a topical counterirritant and analgesic. cap·sa·i·cin n. , the active ingredient in chili. Peak insulin levels were 36 percent lower in people who ate a chili-containing meal after four weeks on the chili diet than in people who ate a bland meal after a month on the bland diet bland diet n. A regular diet omitting foods that may irritate the gastrointestinal tract. bland diet Clinical nutrition A mechanically soft and nonirritating diet commonly prescribed for Pts with IBD and peptic ulcer . The chili diet had the most impact in the overweight. Researchers speculate that chili may alter insulin receptors on the liver. What to do: It's too early to know if cayenne can help keep blood insulin under wraps, but it's worth keeping this study in mind when you reach into the spice cabinet. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 84: 63, 2006. |
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