title: Chili pepper as a body weight-loss food.
abstract: Chili has culinary as well as medical importance. Studies in humans, using a wide range of doses of chili intake (varying from a single meal to a continuous uptake for up to 12 weeks), concluded that it facilitates weight loss. In regard to this, the main targets of chili are fat metabolism, energy expenditure, and thermogenesis. To induce weight loss, the active substance of chili, capsaicin, activates Transient Receptor Potential Cation Channel sub-family V member 1 (TRPV1) channels) receptors causing an increase in intracellular calcium levels and triggering the sympathetic nervous system. Apart from TRPV1, chili directly reduces energy expenditure by activating Brown Adipose Tissue. Weight loss by chili is also the result of an improved control of insulin, which supports weight management and has positive effects for treatment for diseases like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disorders. This review summarizes the major pathways by which chili contributes to ameliorating parameters that help weight management and how the consumption of chili can help in accelerating weight loss through dietary modifications.
authors.affiliation: a Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar , Qatar Foundation-Education City , Doha , Qatar.
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Varghese
authors.affiliation: b Department of Medical Biology, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine , Comenius University in Bratislava , Martin , Slovakia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kubatka
authors.affiliation: c Department of Gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine , University of Oviedo, Central University Hospital of Asturias (HUCA) , Oviedo , Spain.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rodrigo
authors.affiliation: d Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Nursing and Professional Health Studies, Faculty of Medicine , Slovak Medical University , Bratislava , Slovakia.|e Department of General Medicine, Faculty of Medicine , Slovak Medical University , Bratislava , Slovakia.
authors.forename: Katarina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gazdikova
authors.affiliation: f 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine , Comenius University and University Hospital , Bratislava , Slovakia.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caprnda
authors.affiliation: g Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology , I.P. Pavlov Institute of Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences , St. Petersburg , Russia.|h Laboratory of Comparative Somnology and Neuroendocrinology , I.M. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences , St. Petersburg , Russia.|i International Research Centre «Biotechnologies of the Third Millennium» , ITMO University , St. Petersburg , Russia.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fedotova
authors.affiliation: j Centre for Chronic Disease, College of Health and Biomedicine , Victoria University , Werribee , Australia.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zulli
authors.affiliation: k Department of Chemical Drugs, Faculty of Pharmacy , University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences , Brno , Czech Republic.|l Department of Surgery, Center for Vascular Disease , St. Anne?s University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University , Brno , Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kruzliak
authors.affiliation: a Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar , Qatar Foundation-Education City , Doha , Qatar.
authors.forename: Dietrich
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Büsselberg
mesh_terms: D002211:Capsaicin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002212:Capsicum / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D002211:Capsaicin
keywords: Chili pepper; appetite; energy balance; weight loss