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I see ads for numerous supplements and all of them seem to be a scam. Except I have noticed when I am eating a lot of spicy food and hot sauce I tend to lose weight. I have found capsaicin in pure form via a pill but I don't know if it is safe or will help me lose weight.

Here is an example of such a supplement:

All you have to do is read the proof, testimonials and our list of celebrity endorsements and fans to know how effective Capsiplex is at speeding up your metabolism and burning extra calories 278 more calories burned before, during and after exercise for instance.

Studies have established that consumption of capsicum as red pepper or capsacinoids:

Burn 278 more calories every day. Burns carbs and fat. Stimulates carbohydrate and fat oxidation. Enhances diet-induced thermogenesis (an increase in energy expenditure in the body) Reduces appetite levels (shown by decreased cumulative food intake) Helps reduce caloric intake. Gives a beneficial reduction in body mass, % body fat, waist circumference, and desirable reduction in levels of critical markers of weight maintenance such as blood glucose, insulin and triacylglycerol.

Remember you can easily burn an additional 278 more calories EVERY DAY with the celebrity used and endorsed Capsiplex.

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I started searching, assuming there would be no evidence. I was happy to find there was actually some - perhaps not the strongest, and not enough to start recommending that you take the tablets, but at least there was some.

The two most relevant studies I found were these two:

For two days, they watched what 12 men and 12 women chose to eat from a small selection in a lab restaurant, after the subjects had either swallowed 0.9g of Red Pepper*, capsaicin pills or a placebo, with tomato juice.

CONCLUSION: In the short term, both oral and gastrointestinal exposure to capsaicin increased satiety and reduced energy and fat intake; the stronger reduction with oral exposure suggests a sensory effect of capsaicin.

* Cultural note: They are Dutch researchers in an international journal: I think they are referring to small chilli peppers, not large bell peppers (a.k.a. capsicum).

In this study, they looked at 27 people over three weeks, where they were given various treatments of: capsaicin, green tea, CH-19 sweet pepper, capsaicin + green tea or placebo. They were also given either enough calories or insufficient calories to meet their "energy balance".

CH-19 sweet pepper and a combination of capsaicin and green tea reduced energy intake during positive energy balance. Capsaicin and green tea suppressed hunger and increased satiety more during negative than during positive energy balance.

Note: This paper has two co-authors in common with the above one, so should NOT be seen as independent confirmation.

In a third report from some of the same co-authors, they claim:

Capsaicin has been shown to be effective, yet when it is used clinically it requires a strong compliance to a certain dosage, that has not been shown to be feasible yet.

On top of these small, brief human studies, there have also been a number of animal studies, which I won't go into, but list a couple of examples:

Conclusion

There is some promising evidence, but what I saw was based on very small trials, didn't look at the long-term risks, didn't demonstrate that the effects are sustained, and wasn't independently replicated.

That's not enough evidence to suggest spending money and risking side-effects by taking these tablets - especially as doses are hard to maintain - but it is enough to pique the scientific interest

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