We're liberal about piling on the hot chilies in our food, and science suggests there's even some benefit to the sweating we're doing when we eat them — it burns calories.
But what about those people who just can't stand the heat?
Research presented at the Experimental Biology meeting in Anaheim, California, (namesake of one of our favorite peppers) shows that dihydrocapsiate (DCT) –a chemical found in a strain of mild chile peppers — has helped some people boost their metabolism without the tongue-burning side effects.
But don't stock up on mild peppers to lose weight just yet. The people in the very small study were already on a low calorie liquid diet for a month. More research needs to be done on whether consuming DCT would help people on more realistic diets, researcher David Heber of UCLA's Center for Human Nutrition tells Shots.
To read the rest of the story, please go to National Public Radio.
