When you eat a spicy food it’s hard not to notice it. Your mouth burns, you start sweating and your entire body heats up after one hot wing! What you don’t notice is that although this extremely hot pepper may be burning your mouth it is also helping your body burn fat!
Thermogenesis
When you eat spicy food the first thing you notice is your mouth burning and then your body temperature increases and you start sweating. This increase in body temperature and resultant sweating is called thermogenesis (thermo=heat, genesis=production) and is a sign that your body is burning calories. Foods with a high capsaicin content and have a high Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) rating increase the amount of energy expended by the body by activating TRPV1 receptors (Transient Receptor Vanilloid 1) in the stomach, mouth, and other organs creating the sensation of heat[1]. As a result, this increases the amount of calories used by the body and therefore the higher calorie deficit throughout the day for greater fat loss.
Fat Oxidation
It is quite obvious that capsaicin is effective for increasing body temperature which will in effect help burn fat, but does capsaicin have a direct fat burning mechanism…Yes!
Oral supplementation of Capsaicin has been shown in multiple studies to increase markers of fat oxidation during and after exercise. One study showed that supplementation with Capsaicin before exercise not only increased fat oxidation by 20% in human subject during exercise, but also helped the subjects return to baseline (resting state) faster than those subjects that did not take Capsaicin[2]. This means that the subjects that took capsaicin before exercise burned 20% more FAT (specifically) than the subjects that did not take capsaicin.
Vasodilator
In addition to thermogenesis in the body and increased fat oxidation, Capsaicin has been shown to increase peripheral vasodilation when supplemented in humans. By increasing peripheral vasodilation (increasing the width of blood vessels to your muscles and extremities of your body) oxygen and other nutrients are delivered to your muscles more effectively and as a result you are able to exercise harder and recover faster!
Targets Abdominal Fat
A recent double blind, placebo controlled study released on the effect of oral capsaicin intake on humans showed the effectiveness of Capsaicin in targeting specifically fat in the abdominal region! This study involved 40 males and 40 females and showed that capsaicin increased fat oxidation, improved weight loss, and significantly increased the reduction/burning of abdominal fat![3]
The large amount of clinical evidence showing that Capsaicin is extremely effective for increasing thermogenesis, vasodilation, and fat burning makes it one of the most powerful ingredients to have in your fat fight fighting arsenal!
DYNAMIS IGNITION-xT™ is formulated with 40mg of Capsaicin Extract Standardized for 100,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU) for maximum abdominal fat burning, thermogenesis, and effectiveness. Only DYNAMIS IGNITION-xT™ combines Capsaicin with other powerful ingredients to burn more fat than any other fat burner without burning muscle! For more information click here.
Cheers!
Evan Ward, BScHK, CPT
CEO & Founder, DYNAMIS
Selected References
[1] Iida T. et al., (2003) Neuropharmacology 44:958-967.
[2] Shin KO et al. Autonomic Nervous Activity and lipid oxidation post-exercise with Capsaicin in humans (2010) Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, Vol 9, 253-261
[3] Snitker S. et al, Effects of novel capsinoid treatment on fatness and energy metabolism in humans: possible pharmacogenetic implications (2009) American Journal on Clinical Nutrition, 89(1): 45-50