# The Spice diet???? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 10, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spice-diet/160299 "2003-03-10T14:18:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Scruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Scruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruff)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spice-diet/160299/1 "2003-03-10T14:18:14Z")
A friend of mine has a theory that eating insanely spicy food helps him lose weight. He doses everything with Dave’s Insanity Sauce, or Mad Dog Inferno or other pepper-based hells in a bottle. His theory is that, because the spices aggravate his stomach and digestive system, it err, _passes through_ him more quickly and thus has less time ti be digested, therefore he gets less from the food and loses weight. The perpetual ring-of-fire will probably make him a world-class yodeller too, but that’s more in the nature of a side effect, I think. I tried asking my nutritionist if there was any validity to this theory, but the woman has no sense of humor and seemed more concerned with my lack of a good breakfast. What’s wrong with two cups of coffee? If I could face food at that hour, trust me I’d have some… So I turn to the medical advisors of the SMDB. Is this at all likely? Or is he doing mor eharm than good? And no, this really is a friend of mine – while I do like spicy food, it doesn’t really like me 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ego\_Mk2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Ego\_Mk2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ego_Mk2)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spice-diet/160299/2 "2003-03-10T14:51:56Z")
I’ve never noticed a difference in the speed the food goes through my system, but it’s easier for me to tell when the spicy meals get near their exit cycle. Perhaps the internal, awful colon spasms I sometimes get are causing me to lose weight too! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MissBungle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@MissBungle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissBungle)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spice-diet/160299/3 "2003-03-10T14:55:55Z")
spicy foods are said to speed up your metabolism. it has nothing to do with how fast you digest the food. spicy foods make my beeeehind nervous… but to each their own. ---
**Author:** ![Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drifter)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spice-diet/160299/4 "2003-03-10T15:04:19Z")
Spot on MissBungle ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spice-diet/160299/5 "2003-03-10T15:09:23Z")
In _City of Joy_, it was believed by the poverty-stricken protagonist that chilis reduced the appetite - thus if he didn’t have enough for a meal for his family, he’d just buy them chilis to stop them feeling hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spice-diet/160299/6 "2003-03-10T15:14:53Z")
Well, this sounds to me like a home-grown version of the “Laxative Weight Loss Diet”, the theory of which is, “The faster the food shoots through you, the less chance your body has to pick up any calories along the way.” Short version–it makes you sick, and it doesn’t work. [http://www.diet-i.com/diet\_pills/laxatives-to-lose-weight.htm](http://www.diet-i.com/diet_pills/laxatives-to-lose-weight.htm) > [@](#): > > Diet Pills or Products Containing Laxatives > Diet pills, weight loss supplements or diet products containing laxatives are not a healthy or effective way to lose weight. On the contrary, pills and products containing laxatives may cause you gain weight, as well as damaging your health. > > Using Laxatives to Lose Weight is Unhealthy > Diet pills that contain laxatives stimulate the digestive system and can cause severe diarrhea. And constant diarrhea prevents proper absorption of food and leads to dehydration due to water-loss, plus vitamin and mineral deficiencies, which may have bad effects on health. Strong laxatives actually weaken normal peristalsis (movement of the bowels). People who take strong laxatives for long periods, lose the ability to produce normal stools. See also Diet Teas. > > Using Laxatives to Lose Weight Can be Dangerous > Continued laxative use can cause bloating, cramping, dehydration, electrolyte disturbances and imbalances, cardiac arrhythmias, irregular heart beat and heart attack, renal problems, and death. Laxatives also cause withdrawal symptoms. > > Using Laxatives to Lose Weight Doesn’t Work > A study by the University of Texas tracked the weight and dieting habits of 692 teenage girls from 9th through 12th grade. Girls who had resorted to extreme weight-loss measures like laxatives and appetite suppressants were more likely to gain weight, as were those who had engaged in binge eating. Dieting, laxative and appetite suppressant use to lose weight also greatly increased the likelihood of becoming obese, the study showed. [http://www.something-fishy.org/dangers/methods.php](http://www.something-fishy.org/dangers/methods.php) > [@](#): > > Pills or liquid, herbal or otherwise, laxative abuse is a common form of “weight control” in people suffering with Eating Disorders. The use of laxatives as a way to lose or control weight is not only dangerous, but irrational. The actual purpose of taking a laxative is to stimulate the large bowel to empty, which occurs only after the food and it’s calories for energy have been absorbed through the small intestines. Essentially, a person taking laxatives to control weight is only going to cause their body to lose fluid, which can potentionally be followed by periods of water retention and an appearance of bloating (causing the sufferer to want to lose more weight and ingest more laxatives). The reason people suffering from eating disorders seem to lose weight while taking laxatives is because in most cases they are increasingly watching calorie intake and restricting food consumption, inducing vomiting, and/or compulsively exersizing. > > Continued laxative use can cause bloating, cramping, dehydration, electrolyte disturbances and imbalances, cardiac arrhythmias, irregular heart beat and heart attack, renal problems, and death. 'Zat good enough for ya? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spice-diet/160299/7 "2003-03-10T18:31:00Z")
Spice for Laxative effect is not good. But if you find you can eat less food because it is spicy then that can help weight loss. i.e. if you have the habbit of finishing off all the food in front of you at each meal, then making the food spicier than you are happy with can help break that bad habbit. Yes I said it, eating all the food in front of you is Not a Virtue! Just eat as much as stops you being hungry and no more. Cheers, Bippy (who likes it hot) ---
**Author:** ![Scruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Scruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruff)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spice-diet/160299/8 "2003-03-10T18:32:06Z")
Thanks for all the answers. I was dubious because said friend is not in perfect physical shape (unless you count a pear as perfect :p), but knew that I could get the straight shit, er I mean dope here. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spice-diet/160299/9 "2003-03-10T18:40:12Z")
I must point out that you seldom see obese people in countries like Thailand and India where the food is really spicy. Whether this is a causal relationship is a bit more dubious. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spice-diet/160299/10 "2003-03-10T23:28:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ShibbOleth \* > \*\*I must point out that you seldom see obese people in countries like Thailand and India where the food is really spicy. Whether this is a causal relationship is a bit more dubious. \*\* It’s dubious because it’s not true. Average real Indian meals are not overly spicy - from both a heat and from a taste standpoint. Yes, there are hot and spicy dishes, but there are plenty of baldn ones too. By the same token, one could wonder why Japan has (relatively) bland food and a low incidence of obesity. Or why Mexican-Americans Native Americans of the border regions have a spicier diet, and yet are plagued with obesity… In short, there’s no connection that can be drawn from this. However - I think the person in the OP may be misunderstanding the true “spice diet”. One purpose of a “spice diet” is to be able to eat bland, low-calorie foods (un-fried vegetables and very lean meats) but enjoy them more by spicing the hell out of them. It helped me get down to 8 stone 8, and stay there for 9 months now. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spice-diet/160299/11 "2003-03-11T08:40:44Z")
When did the Spice Girls start their own diet? ## Peace. “I’m Anorexic Spice!” ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spice-diet/160299/12 "2003-03-11T10:50:16Z")
And of course there is also the side-effect of the **Spice** turing your eyes a solid blue :). - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spice-diet/160299/13 "2003-03-12T04:26:24Z")
Two of my diet/diabetes books say that red pepper is thermogenic and recommend cayenne in green tea as a diet aid before exercise, for what it’s worth.