A new study published in the journal Food Quality and Preference suggests that adding spice to your meals may cause you to eat more slowly and consume fewer calories.
The crossover study included 130 adults who were given different versions of two meals for lunch: beef chili or chicken tikka masala. The two dishes were made either mild or spicy. Participants were video recorded consuming each meal. From the video recordings, the researchers were able to determine how quickly the participants ate their meals and how much food and water they consumed during the meal. The participants were also tested before and after the meal on their appetite, how much they liked the meal, and how spicy they would rate the meal. Previous research has suggested that food properties might affect eating behaviors and potentially change overall calorie intake. This study sought to determine how increasing the spiciness of a meal impacts these outcomes.
The results showed that increasing spiciness caused the participants to eat more slowly and consume fewer calories overall. While participants rated the spicier meals as more spicy, they did not rate them as less palatable. Water intake was similar between the two meal conditions, suggesting that water intake was not a factor in determining how much participants ate. Appetite ratings were also similar before and after the two types of meals, suggesting that spicier meals could make participants feel just as full in spite of eating less food.
The authors noted that participants likely ate less of the spicy food overall because the spice caused them to slow down while eating. They further noted that an important aspect of this study was that there were decreases in eating speed and portion size without a corresponding decrease in likeability. This suggests that spice may be an easy way to limit food intake, potentially leading to better overall health.
Sources: Food Quality and Preference, Science Daily