There’s no shortage of weight loss supplements lining the shelves of health food stores, but did you know there may be fat-burning supplementing tucked away in your kitchen? Next time you’re cooking a meal, toss in some cayenne pepper—it might kickstart your metabolism like it does your sweat glands.

Cayenne pepper and chili peppers have been used for centuries in international cooking, but little did we know that they’re a powerful ingredient for people looking to shed a few pounds.

The active constituent of chili peppers, capsaicin, has shown benefits for appetite control, metabolism, and fat burn, making it the ideal ingredient in any natural weight loss supplement.

So, we’re breaking down everything you need to know about capsaicin—what it is, how it works, and if it’s good for weight loss—and giving you the best weight loss supplement with capsaicin.

Let's dive in!

What Is Capsaicin?

If you’ve knocked back some chili peppers only to be engulfed by a pungent heat that crawls down your throat, you’re probably aware that chili peppers are spicy. That spice and pungency come from a compound called capsaicin.

Capsaicin is the active compound found in cayenne peppers. While chilis are staples in many international cuisines and bring the heat like no other to food, they’re also packed with a long list of medicinal benefits.

But while you may only think about chilis as flavor, they also nail the nutritional department, containing nutrients like fiber, vitamin A, E, C, B2 B6, K, manganese, and potassium. How’s that for spicy?

As we said, the compound responsible for most of the benefits of chili peppers is capsaicin—one of several capsaicinoids; chilis also contain dihydrocapsaicin, nordihydrocapsaicin, homodihydrocapsaicin, and homocapsaicin.

However, capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin make up roughly 90% of the capsaicinoids in chili peppers and are the two most potent 1.

One of capsaicin’s most well-known benefits is pain—it acts as a natural analgesic. And although the thought of putting cayenne pepper on a cut to reduce pain probably makes you wince, it works.

We’ll get into more specifics soon, but it can bind to pain receptors and interfere with a signal transmission that tells your body you’re in pain, so you feel less pain.

But as far as we know, capsaicin offers more than just pain relief. It’s shown a wide array of biological and physiological activities ranging from antioxidant and anti-inflammatory to anticarcinogenic and anti-obesity 1.

Let’s dig into the details.

How Does Capsaicin Work?

The mechanism behind how capsaicin works depends on what pathway it’s working on.

For pain relief, the primary mechanism is based on neural desensitization based on two pathways: the first is capsaicin‐induced loss of responsiveness, which is reversible, and the second involves calcium‐dependent desensitization via activation of phosphatase and inactivation of capsaicin channels 2.

But in terms of its anti-obesity effects, capsaicin is a transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) agonist, and although most of its mechanism isn’t understood, it stimulates TRPV1 to elicit its effects 3; TRPV1 is involved in the regulation of metabolic health, including weight, glucose and lipid metabolism, and cardiovascular function, and it was deemed a target because of its effect on energy metabolism.

In short, there are four ways in which capsaicin exhibits anti-obesity effects 3:

  1. Increases lipid oxidation and inhibits adipogenesis (fat cell formation)
  2. Activates brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity and triggers thermogenesis via increased expression of UCP-1 and PGC-1α
  3. Suppresses appetite and increases satiety via regulation of neuronal circuits in the hypothalamus
  4. Modulates function of the GI tract and gut microbiome

As such, capsaicin may elicit favorable benefits on:

  • Metabolic and hormonal function
  • Insulin and leptin resistance
  • Endothelial function
  • Energy expenditure
  • Thermogenesis
  • Weight loss
  • Fat burn

But perhaps one of the best things about capsaicin is that it triggers similar actions to stimulations like caffeine without actually being a stimulant, so there’s minimal risk of adverse side effects.

Can Capsaicin Support Weight Loss?

When taken on its own, capsaicin isn’t likely to trigger any significant weight loss, but when combined with other fat-burning ingredients, a clean diet, and a solid training program, capsaicin can be pretty powerful.

By nature, capsaicin is a thermogenic agent, meaning it functions to increase core body temperature, which has a beneficial effect on metabolism and caloric expenditure. So, when taken in conjunction with natural weight-loss aids that work on different pathways, capsaicin can:

  • Increase energy expenditure
  • Enhance fat loss
  • Suppress appetite

But what does the research say?

The two main areas in which research supports the link between capsaicin and weight loss are metabolism and appetite.

Research finds they can stimulate weight loss via lipolysis, thermogenesis, and increasing energy expenditure by activating receptors in white and brown fat cells. And because they’re a TRPV1 agonist, consuming capsaicin before a meal can reduce energy intake from 50 to 75 calories per day 4, 5.

Other studies show some benefits for capsaicin and appetite regulation via its ability to increase sympathetic nervous system activity 3.

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays a vital role in cold-induced non-shivering thermogenesis for temperature regulation, and it’s suggested that chili peppers influence energy expenditure through the same pathways—activating BAT to stimulate more significant energy expenditure via non-shivering thermogenesis.

The mechanisms are rather complicated and beyond the scope of this paper, but there is a fair bit of evidence showing that capsaicin is beneficial for weight loss.

But if you want to maximize its effects, why not combine it with other ingredients that stimulate weight loss and fat burn? That’s precisely what Burn Lab Pro does.

The Best Weight Loss Supplement: Burn Lab Pro®

If you’re looking for a weight loss supplement, you’ll find hundreds of products ranging from high stimulant thermogenic fat burners to stim-free natural blends.

But if you’re not keen on experimenting your way through products and achieving sub-part results, there’s only one product for you: Burn Lab Pro®.

Burn Lab Pro® is the most advanced fat loss formula to help shed fat and maintain muscle mass. Featuring cutting-edge natural ingredients, Burn Lab Pro® is a safe, natural, stim-free formula that supercharges your fat-burning strategy.

In each serving, you’re getting:

  • Forslean® Coleus Forskohlii
  • Capsimax® Cayenne Pepper Extract
  • HMB
  • NutriGenesis® GTF Chromium
  • Bioperine® Black Pepper Extract

Combining five of the most potent fat loss ingredients, Burn Lab Pro® supports 15+ biological functions that reduce body fat, increase muscle mass, and enhance exercise performance.

Plus, it accelerates recovery to help you get back to training faster, stronger, leaner, and meaner.

References

  1. Reyes-Escogido Mde L, Gonzalez-Mondragon EG, Vazquez-Tzompantzi E. Chemical and pharmacological aspects of capsaicin. Molecules. 2011;16(2):1253-1270.
  2. Jolayemi, ATE. Capsaicin: aromatic basis and mechanism of action: an example of positive inhibition. Aromatic and Medicinal Plants: Back to Nature. 2017; 239.
  3. Zheng J, Zheng S, Feng Q, Zhang Q, Xiao X. Dietary capsaicin and its anti-obesity potency: from mechanism to clinical implications. Biosci Rep. 2017;37(3):BSR20170286.
  4. Whiting S, Derbyshire E, Tiwari BK. Capsaicinoids and capsinoids. A potential role for weight management? A systematic review of the evidence. Appetite. 2012;59(2):341-348.
  5. Bloomer RJ, Canale RE, Shastri S, Suvarnapathki S. Effect of oral intake of capsaicinoid beadlets on catecholamine secretion and blood markers of lipolysis in healthy adults: a randomized, placebo controlled, double-blind, cross-over study. Lipids Health Dis. 2010;9:72.