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Capsaicin For Weight Loss And Against Inflammation

Plus: the "molecular brake" on weight gain

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The 10almonds Team
September 04, 2023

Today’s almonds have been activated by:

Loading Screen Tip: this Labor Day, remember to value your own labor, and that of those around you, in whatever form it takes. Yes, paid work is labor, but so is housework, childcare, gardening, cooking, writing to a friend.

Productivity takes many forms, and you and those around you are probably putting more into the world than you think. Take pride in it!

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⏰ IN A RUSH?

Today’s 30-Second Summary

If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:

  • Capsaicin, the compound in hot peppers that makes them spicy, is a chemical irritant and a neurotoxin.

    • However, humans being humans, we decided to eat them for fun.

  • Nonetheless, consuming capsaicin (in moderation) is considered to have health benefits, such as aiding weight loss (by boosting metabolism) and reducing inflammation.

    • The science of this is quite straightforward and unambiguous:

      • Capsaicin does increase oxygen metabolism and raises body temperature, both things that result in burning more calories for the same work.

      • Capsaicin does have antioxidant, and thus anti-inflammatory, properties.

  • Cayenne peppers are a good source of capsaicin, and are best enjoyed fresh. However, dried cayenne still offers very respectable results too.

    • For those who don’t like the taste of hot pepper, supplements in capsule form do exist too.

  • Hydration is a critical and often-neglected part of good health, and healthy habits are (by science!) best picked-up when they’re made more convenient and easy.

    • Today’s sponsor, Hint Water, are offering 10almonds subscribers 45% off and free shipping, on their already very reasonably-priced flavored waters and vitamin waters

      • They are, by the way, free from sugar and artificial sweeteners, so these are different from ones you’ve probably tried before

Read on to learn about these things and more…

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🌶️ MAIN FEATURE

Capsaicin’s Hot Benefits

Capsaicin, the compound in hot peppers that makes them spicy, is a chemical irritant and a neurotoxin. However, humans being humans, we decided to eat them for fun.

In contrast to many other ways in which humans recreationally enjoy things that are objectively poisonous, consuming capsaicin (in moderation) is considered to have health benefits, such as aiding weight loss (by boosting metabolism) and reducing inflammation.

Let’s see what the science says…

First: is it safe?

Capsaicin is classified as “Generally Recognized As Safe”. That said, the same mechanism that causes them to boost metabolism, does increase blood pressure:

If you are in good cardiovascular health, this increase should be slight and not pose any threat, unless for example you enter a chili-eating contest when not acclimated to such:

As ever, if unsure, do check with your doctor first, especially if you are taking any blood pressure medications, or otherwise have known blood pressure issues.

Does it really boost metabolism?

It certainly does; it works by increasing oxygen consumption and raising body temperature, both of which mean more calories will be burned for the same amount of work:

This means, of course, that chili peppers enjoy the status of being functionally a “negative calorie” food, and a top-tier one at that:

Here’s a good quality study that showed a statistically significant* fat loss improvement over placebo:

*To put it in numbers, the benefit was:

  • 5.91 percentage points lower body fat percentage than placebo

  • 6.68 percentage points greater change in body fat mass than placebo

For those who prefer big reviews than single studies, we’ve got you covered:

Does it really reduce inflammation?

Counterintuitive as it may seem, yes. By means of reducing oxidative stress. Given that things that reduce oxidative stress tend to reduce inflammation, and in turn tend to reduce assorted disease risks (from diabetes to cancer to Alzheimer’s), this probably has more knock-on benefits too, but we don’t have room to explore all of those today.

Fresh peppers are best for this, but dried peppers (such as when purchased as a ground spice in the supermarket, or when purchased as a capsule-based supplement) still have a very respectable anti-inflammatory effect:

How much should we take?

It’s recommended to start at a low dose and gradually increase it, but 2–6mg of capsaicin per day is the standard range used in studies.

If you’re getting this from peppers, then for example cayenne pepper (a good source of capsaicin) contains around 2.5mg of capsaicin per 1 gram of cayenne.

In the case of capsules, if for example you don’t like eating hot pepper, this will usually mean taking 2–6 capsules per day, depending on dosage.

Make sure to take it with plenty of water!

Where can we get it?

Fresh peppers or ground spice from your local grocery store is fine. Your local health food store probably sells the supplements, too.

If you’d like to buy it online, here is an example product on Amazon.

Note: options on Amazon were more limited than usual, so this product is not vegan, and probably not halal or kosher, as the capsule contains an unspecified gelatin.

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🌍 AROUND THE WEB

What’s happening in the health world…

More to come tomorrow!

📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

Thinking, Fast and Slow – by Dr. Daniel Kahneman

We all try to make the best decisions we can with the information available... Don't we?

Yet, somehow, a survival chance of 90% seems better than a mortality rate of 10%, and as it turns out, we as fallible humans are prey to all manner of dubious heuristics.

Nobel Prize winner Dr. Daniel Kahneman lays out for us two sytems of thought process:

  • Fast, intuitive, emotional

  • Slow, deliberate, logical

He makes the case for how and why we do need both, but often end up using the wrong one. He notes how the first is required for efficiency, or we would spend all day deciding what socks to wear... The second, meanwhile, is required for high-stakes decisions, but is lazy by nature, and often we don't engage it when we ought to.

Over the course of many diverse examples, Dr. Kahneman shows how again and again, the second system is slowly cogitating at the back of the class, while the first system is bouncing up and down with its hand in the air saying "I know! I know!", even when, in fact, it does not know.

For a book largely founded in economics (it's a massive takedown of the notion of the rational consumer), it is not at all dry, and is very readable in style. It's engaging throughout, and readers far removed from Wall Street will find plenty of ways it relates to our everyday lives.

Bottom line: if you'd like to avoid making many mistakes in what you'd assumed to be rational decisions, this book is critical reading.

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Wishing you the most well-informed start to the week,

The 10almonds Team