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A new medicine based on the capsaicin in chili peppers has proven successful in weight loss in mice. The effects were long-lasting and safe.
Chili Fat Burner
If we can quickly go from mouse to human, those Chili Fat Burners will surely fly off the shelves like spicy hotcakes. A new medicine that effectively combats overweight and its symptoms for the long term. Safe and based on a natural product. Ka-ching!
But well, that carrot has been dangled in front of us before. So let’s hope that this new medicine, called
Metabocin, passes the various test phases. Then we can welcome a new warrior in the war against obesity.
Metabocin is based on capsaicin, the substance that makes chili peppers so hot. Capsaicin has often been associated with a fat-burning effect. New research shows how this effect is caused. More importantly, it has shown how you can enhance this effect to ensure long-term weight loss.
The research shows that capsaicin can affect specific receptors in fat cells. These TRPV1 receptors (transient receptor potential vanilloid subfamily 1) can induce the fat cell to burn energy instead of storing it. However, capsaicin in chili peppers is poorly absorbed, so most of it doesn’t achieve this effect. So, it doesn’t make sense to only eat Mexican food from now on. Moreover, a concentrated form was impractical and unsafe.
Metabocin is a modified form of capsaicin that provides a gradual release of capsaicin. This would increase absorption and safety.
Burn baby burn!
Metabocin led to significant improvements in blood sugar, cholesterol, insulin sensitivity, and symptoms of fatty liver disease in the mice. The researchers presented their findings this week during the annual meeting of the
Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior [1].
The question was whether this effect would also persist with long-term use and whether there would be side effects. Therefore, the mice received the drug for 8 months. That’s quite long for a mouse, which typically lives 2 to 3 years. During this period, the lost pounds stayed off without signs of negative side effects. Additional studies should determine how far this can be safely extended.
It proved safe and was well tolerated by the mice. Developing Metabocin as a potent anti-obesity treatment shows promise as part of a robust strategy for helping people struggling with obesity
Baskaran Thyagarajan, University of Wyoming
Let’s hope dangling a pepper works better than dangling a carrot.
Capsaicin, a Remarkable Substance
It would be nice if Metabocin could also enhance other effects of capsaicin. Early last year, we wrote about other positive effects such as the lower risk of certain diseases and death.
The article discussed research showing positive effects in population groups and people who eat a lot of spicy foods. A 14% lower risk of death for people who eat spicy foods 6-7 times a week compared to those who do so less than once. In those studies, it was about peppers in their natural form incorporated into the diet. What would happen to the risk of death if that capsaicin came in a more absorbable form?
How old did those mice actually get?
References
- ssib.org
