Does this simple kitchen spice shed belly fat for good?

In today’s overweight world, losing pounds and staying slim often seems like a national obsession. Fortunately, research now demonstrates that a spice found in nearly every kitchen contains a natural chemical that can help promote healthy fat metabolism … and lead to fewer fat cells.

In fact, the journal Endocrine calls it a “bioactive food” that can help reduce inflammation and keep extra weight off.

Healthy fat metabolism

People want to maintain a healthy weight, and there are lots of beneficial ways to do it: exercise, whole foods diet and supplementation, proper stress relief, regular sleeping patterns. But a new study has highlighted an ancient ingredient for healthy fat metabolism that is, quite literally, right under our noses: black pepper.

Published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the study zeroes in on piperine, the component that makes pepper spicy.

Black pepper has been used for centuries in Eastern medicine to address numerous areas of health, particularly the digestive system. This ancient spice has also been known to support healthy fat metabolism. But nobody knew exactly why.

Spicy talk

Researchers have found that piperine in black pepper reduces the expression of genes that work to generate fat cells. In other words, it turns down many of these genes or shuts them off completely. Furthermore, pepper turns up biological processes that promote healthy weight by helping to further regulate genes that control fat metabolism.

This shines the spotlight on an exciting area of scientific research: the field of epigenetics. Epigenetics is a cutting-edge branch of science that explores the language of DNA – specifically, how DNA and our genetic expression can be “rewritten” by external influences. Advancements in this field show how various factors (dietary, lifestyle, environmental, mind/body, etc.) “talk” to specific genes, changing their expression for better or for worse. In this study, piperine is shown to suppress specific genes that generate fat cells and promote healthy fat metabolism.

Many studies also show that piperine can enhance the bioavailability of other nutrients that fight fat, including curcumin.

How to shake up your pepper dose

This is good news. Any natural substance that can help encourage healthy weight has great benefit. But there is a downside. If you’ve ever over-peppered an omelet, you know exactly where this is going: How much black pepper can one possibly eat? Fortunately, there are other ways to get the benefits of piperine without having to injure your taste buds.

A high-quality nutritional formula containing black pepper and other botanicals and nutrients can offer support for digestion and metabolism, providing an excellent source of piperine to supplement your diet. In combination with nutrients, enzymes and botanical ingredients such as pomegranate seed, tangerine, licorice, ginger, mushrooms and lotus seed extract, black pepper works to support healthy digestion and metabolism and relieve occasional digestive discomfort.

Strong digestion supports healthy metabolism

Food is fuel, but how we process that fuel makes a big difference to our health. The digestive system is a finely tuned biological machine that breaks up the food we ingest, absorbs as much nutrition as possible and eliminates anything we don’t need. However, metabolism also happens on the cellular level. Cells must ingest glucose to grow, divide and perform countless critical functions to maintain day-to-day health.

Regardless of whether metabolism is taking place in the digestive tract or inside individual cells, efficiency is critical. This is one of the main goals of nutritional formulas that work to support digestion and metabolism. This includes support for optimal nutrient absorption, as well as liver and immune functions. By supplementing with black pepper, you’re also encouraging ancient genomic processes that contribute to healthy weight and digestion.

This is all part of an integrative approach to good health. We seek out the freshest, healthiest, most nutritious foods; but even that isn’t always enough. By supporting our body’s metabolic systems, we can promote digestive health, maintain a healthy weight and, in turn, enhance overall vitality and wellness. For more practical health and wellness information, visit www.dreliaz.org.