What are the benefits of hot peppers?

Researchers at Laval University in Quebec found that eating hot peppers can speed up your metabolism and cool your cravings. A chemical called capsaicin found in jalapeno, chili, and cayenne peppers that give them their notorious heat can temporarily stimulate your body to release more hormones that can speed up your metabolism and also cause you to burn more calories. Research in the European Journal of Nutrition reports that eating just one meal containing capsaicin not only reduces levels of hunger-causing ghrelin but also raises glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), also known to scientists as an appetite-suppressing hormone. Other scientists found that people who drank capsaicin-spiced tomato juice before each meal over two days ingested 16 percent fewer calories than those who drank it plain.