It’s the perfect man’s (and woman’s) diet, as eating more spice in your food has been found to reduce your salt intake and therefore lower your blood pressure and helps you lose weight and keep it off.
According to a recent study people who liked spicy food had less need for salt and had lower blood pressure. (1)
The extra water stored in your body from eating salt raises your blood pressure, so the more salt you eat the higher the risk of your blood pressure rising, which can lead to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and dementia.
The study which took place in China used 606 volunteers and looked at their preference for salty or spicy foods, plus how often they ate foods high in salt, such as salted fried pork and pickled chinese cabbage. Those who ate spicy food, especially chilli peppers, didn’t eat as much salt and had lower blood pressure than those who didn’t eat as much spicy food.
It's great as this suggests that curry (homemade) can be good for our health. In fact research highlights on BBC’s Truth about Diets, highlighted the health benefits of many common spices often in our store cupboards. The benefits are linked to helping you lose weight and keeping it off too, as explained below:
- Cumin (1tsp daily) found to be just as good as some diet drugs being tested & small study also suggests it not only increases weight loss but also reduces body fat % compared to other standard diets.
- Turmeric used alongside a good diet and exercise makes weight loss more effective and stops fat regrowth after people have lost weight.
- Chilli helps us burn more energy (increases metabolism)
- Ginger also burns more energy and makes us feel more satisfied with what we've eaten, so helps stop us eating more than we need.
- Cinnamon helps us control our blood sugar and insulin levels. If insulin increases it makes us lay more fat down in our bodies, hence Cinnamon keeps our sugars and insulin stable preventing fat being laid down in our bodies.
It's amazing that some basic foods found in your kitchen could give your body the boost it needs to be the weight you want and be healthier in many other ways too.
Are you ready to ‘Spice up your 2018’ and reap the benefits? - 1. https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/to-eat-less-salt-enjoy-the-spice-of-life
- BBC’s Truth about Diets, 2018.
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