A range of factors can lead to the development of obesity. These take effect through a range of different mechanisms but, in most cases, the consequence is that the storage of excess energy as excessive amounts of body fat. Spices such as chilies, garlic and fenugreek can help check weight gain and decrease obesity.
Fat deposition
It is a defensive mechanism that permits the storage of energy when food is abundant, thereby increasing the odds of survival during times of food scarcity and famine. In earlier times those people who were effective at storing fat were more likely to survive food shortages. Unfortunately, during times of plenty we maintain this inborn ability to store fat and what was once an advantage for its efficient energy accumulators has become a health hazard for them.
Viewed simplistically, obesity is caused by an excessive amount of energy consumption, in the kind of food, and not enough energy output, in the kind of basic metabolic processes and workout. However, the reasons that so many people become overweight or obese are a bit more complicated than this simple equation suggests. Although a sedentary lifestyle and the availability of cheap, high-energy carbohydrate and fat-laden foods are the principal causes of obesity, there are occasionally other aggravating factors. These are varied and include a genetic predisposition; lifestyle-related factors like anxiety and sleep deprivation; emotional issues that manifest themselves as eating disorders; underlying illness; specific medicines; a diet dominated by high glycaemic index foods; and habitual dieting with its attendant weight cycling. It’s been suggested recently that certain virus infections can raise a propensity to put on weight.
Satiety Control Benefits
Oftentimes these variables work by interfering with our desire control mechanisms, which can be partly responsible for the maintenance of normal weight. The failure of desire (satiety) control is often directly responsible for obesity and may exacerbate and entrench the illness once it’s developed. Satiety control mechanisms might also be dampened as a result of obesity that has been due to other factors. A range of mechanisms are involved in this complex regulatory system, and a malfunction of any one of them may lead to the consumption of surplus food.
The senses of smell and taste are two of the most significant of their appetite control mechanisms. When we smell or consume meals, receptors in the nose are stimulated by food odor molecules and communicate these signals to the satiety center in the brain. By tracking the intensity of these signs, the satiety centre can gauge when we’ve had enough to eat. Because of this, people who have a poor sense of smell or who suffer from a complete loss of their sense of smell have a tendency to consume more than those with a normal sense of smell. Unsurprisingly, strongly flavored and seasoned foods – that frequently owe this property to spices – excite the satiety center far more efficiently than foods that are bland, and we tend to eat less of the former consequently.
Hormones
Distention of the stomach by food also induces the release of hormones which act as appetite suppressants and some foods, especially the spices, have the very same effects, even in the absence of gut distention. A group of hormones, one of which is leptin, are created by fat tissue and are believed to play an significant role in appetite regulation.
Spices Benefits
Spices have a variety of properties which make them successful agents to help prevent and treat obesity. In their function as appetite suppressants, spices are proven to work in three main ways.
Appetite suppression
The strong scents and tastes common to all spices quickly stimulate the satiety centre in the brain, thereby diminishing feelings of hunger. Certain spices, like chilies, act by mimicking the release of appetite suppressing hormones in the gut. Garlic meanwhile reduces the appetite by increasing the brain’s sensitivity to leptin.
Increase metabolic rate
Some spices stimulate the nervous system to release hormones such as adrenalin. These hormones accelerate the metabolic rate that, in turn, helps “burn off” excess fat. Capsicums (such as chilies and red peppers) and garlic have been shown to increase the metabolic rate, in some cases by up to 10 percent. Clinical trials have shown that these spices can be effective both in protecting against weight gain and helping in weight loss. In the capsicum family, more than 1 phytochemical is regarded as responsible for this result: capsaicin (found in large quantities in chilies) and the spicy capsiate (found in the milder paprika and red peppers) both raise metabolic rate.
Reduce fat absorption
Ginger, fenugreek and garlic have the ability to decrease the absorption of fat in the intestines.
Conclusion
The diverse ways spices act provide the perfect combination of tools to assist with the natural treatment of obesity. Together with a sensible weight loss plan, they are useful organic remedies for obesity and overweight.
