Hot Sauce & Weight-Loss

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xxxTiaxxx
xxxTiaxxx Posts: 304 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm a big hot sauce fan and started putting the stuff on everything. I also heard it can be good for weight loss cause it can increase your metabolism.
Does anyone follow this idea and have a fav hot sauce?
My fav at the moment has to be Red Habanero & Black Coffee from Queen Majesty.
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  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,619 Member
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    I found one article from the NY Times from 2006 that talked about this and basically said... nobody knows, but maybe by a negligible amount. Like maybe it increases your metabolism by 8%... which on the grand scheme of things is very little. But hey, if you like hot sauce... go for it!!! I'm all about including the foods/condiments we enjoy, whether they "help" or not. And hey, if it does increase your metabolism by 8%, well, bonus!
  • mybentley7
    mybentley7 Posts: 32 Member
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    The only way hot sauce is going to help you lose weight is if you use it as a meal replacement. In other words, skip lunch and have a cup of hot sauce instead.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
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    It’s not really going to make a difference. Same concept as saying your body uses more energy drinking cold water because your body has to warm it before using it. Maybe one more calorie expended per serving. 🤷🏻‍♀️

    If the hot sauce helps you stay under your calorie goal and tastes good, go for it!
  • perryc05
    perryc05 Posts: 210 Member
    edited June 2022
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    Tastes good and adds minimum calories but packs on a fair amount of sodium. I grow chillies and have made my own hot sauce for years. Chillies and derivative condiments are not a silver bullet for weight loss though. It can give you the runs if you eat too much though :) It's probably the macro side of the eating that counts the most.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,969 Member
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    I love hot sauces and spicy foods, but it's not going to make a significant difference for weight loss.

    It's kind of like people thinking that ice water is better for weight loss than room temperature water. No. It really isn't :lol:

    Calories
    Calories
    Calories
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
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    Man I wish hot sauce and spicy food made you lose weight.... I wouldn't be here 🤷‍♀️😂
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,195 Member
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    I believe the technical term would be "majoring in the minors".

    Does eating capsaicin make us burn more calories? Yes. By a tiny, tiny number.

    Some foods require more calories in the biochemical process of their being metabolized by the body. Generally, it's such a tiny number that it will be lost in the noise of unavoidable logging errors or estimates.

    Plus it can be a distraction from things that actually matter for weight loss (calories), fitness (sensible exercise that's fun & tuned to slightly challenge your current fitness level), and nutrition (adequate macros, micros, fiber).

    If one day you walk out to your mailbox twice (because the mail arrived later than usual), you've probably burned more calories in that extra walk than you get from the hot sauce . . . even if your mailbox is stuck on the front of your house.

    What I like: Nando's Garlic Peri-Peri Sauce, Mrs. Refro's Smoked Salsa, Clancy's Fancy Hot Sauce (both strengths), my homemade tomatillo salsa with roasted sweet corn and cilantro, Mother-in-Law's Gochujang Fermented Chile Paste, among others. I like variety. I don't have a current favored brand, but the Caribbean-ish ones with nutmeg and such in them are great on fruit. I like the gochujang chile paste for putting in cooked dishes.

    If you want to increase thermogenesis (calorie burn) related to food choices, make sure you're meeting or exceeding your protein goal, eating mostly so-called "whole foods", and drinking/eating something with caffeine in it regularly. It's still majoring in the minors, but probably slightly bigger small numbers than the capsaicin (i.e., hot-spiced things).
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
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    Not persuaded on the burning more calories benefit, but I am totally convinced capsaicin can lift your mood. I really notice a lift after eating something with a lot of ancho chile (e.g. an ancho based soup with a lot of ancho in it). I don't particularly notice the effect with a few squirts of hot sauce as a condiment, though.

    As other said, if hot sauce really increases your enjoyment (and is well worth the additional calories it adds which are likely minimal), go for it!
  • zebasschick
    zebasschick Posts: 909 Member
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    i doubt hot sauce alone will make enough difference to notice - if it makes a difference at all.

    i have lots of very overweight friends who eat tons of hot sauce.
  • IAmTheGlue
    IAmTheGlue Posts: 701 Member
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    If you like hot sauce, by all means add it to your plan. A placebo can work, even if you know it is a placebo.

    I can’t tolerate it anymore. My favorite was Franks Red Hot or Sirracha, but I don’t think either are hot as much as it is a flavor, kind of like Tabasco sauce.

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I live in New Mexico and love spicy food and eat a lot of it. This would fall under TEF (Thermic Effect of Food) and there is already some estimate of average TEF built into your calorie needs so it's not really going to make a difference. Kind of like drinking cold water burns a couple more calories than drinking room temperature water or digesting protein requires slightly more energy than digesting pasta. This all averages out in the whole of your diet.
  • FunkmasterRex
    FunkmasterRex Posts: 153 Member
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    It may not make a difference in losing weight but there are more important things in life. Life and food would suck without hot sauce. I love the feeling of the sweat glands popping off in my scalp as I slurp spicy foods and I do my best reading and thinking while having the runs and blasting off in the can. That is the definition of relief.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,473 Member
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    Ineffective.

    Unless taken in conjunction with apple cider vinegar.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,195 Member
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    springlering62 wrote: »
    Ineffective.

    Unless taken in conjunction with apple cider vinegar.

    Often contains apple cider vinegar, just sayin'. 😉😆
  • mrsmeteor
    mrsmeteor Posts: 35 Member
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    I've never heard of hot sauce helping with weight loss, definitely not sure it has an effect on metabolism. I do think it can help you avoid putting higher calorie condiments in food, though.

    If you can get it in your area, Tennessee Sunshine hot sauce is great and it adds a lot of flavor to all kinds of stuff!
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
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    Hot sauce is good when you like the flavor and it helps you eat foods you might not otherwise enjoy much (like chicken or fish). It has a few calories and you have to watch the sugar content of some. The "hot" in the hot sauce likely isn't going to raise your metabolism enough to offset the calories it contains.

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