Chili pepper

Studies in people

• Benefit

  Weight loss²

  In people, eating chili pepper helped with weight loss in studies lasting up to 12 weeks.

• Benefit

  Risk of dying³

  People who ate chili pepper often had a lower risk of dying from any cause, heart disease or cancer.

• Benefit

  Mouth burn from spicy food⁴

  In people, milk proteins lowered the mouth burn from chili pepper's capsaicin, and casein worked better than whey.

Animal and lab studies only

• Benefit

  Metabolic syndrome⁶

  In lab and animal studies, low-dose capsaicin from chili pepper improved insulin sensitivity and decreased body fat.

• Concern

  Gut inflammation and stature⁷

  In animal studies, a chili pepper-rich diet was linked to gut inflammation and signals tied to short stature in children.

How it’s made and used

• Exercise performance⁵

  In men, capsaicin before lifting let them move more weight and feel less tired.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least two findings in people. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.