Spices Help to Boost Metabolism

Spices have shown antioxidant properties in vitro, and they have high hydrophilic oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) values, a rating of antioxidant activity. Sheila West, from Penn State University (Pennsylvania, USA), and colleagues enrolled six healthy but overweight men (body mass index 25 to 27 kg/m2), ages 30 to 65 years, in a crossover trial. First the men ate a control meal consisting of coconut chicken, a white rice dish, cheese bread, and a dessert biscuit. After at least a week, the men ate a second, spicy meal, in which the chicken was transformed into chicken curry via 14 grams of a high-antioxidant spice blend including turmeric, cinnamon, rosemary, oregano, garlic powder, and paprika, with a side of Italian herb bread and a cinnamon biscuit.  Sampling participants' blood before each meal and at 30-minute intervals for 3.5 hours afterward, the team found that the addition of spices significantly attenuated postprandial insulin and triglyceride responses to the meal, although there were no effects on glucose. Compared with the plain meal, insulin levels were reduced 21% and triglyceride levels fell 31% after the spicy meal.  As well, hydrophilic ORAC levels were 13% higher across all time points after the spicy meal, and ferric reducing antioxidant power -- another marker of plasma antioxidant activity -- was doubled after the spicy meal.  The researchers submit that: “The incorporation of spices into the diet may help normalize postprandial insulin and [triglycerides] and enhance antioxidant defenses.”