Chilli as a blood sugar control.

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Hot News Regarding Your Blood Sugar Want a healthful meal? How about a nice hearty bowl of chili? According to an important new study from Australia, chili may actually help improve health by affecting the hormone insulin that controls blood sugar. According to Madeleine J. Ball, MD, one of the researchers from the study, both some small animal and human studies have indicated that consumption of meals containing chili peppers or chili seasoning might increase both calorie burning and fat burning. What the researchers wanted to find out was whether the consumption of chili also affects insulin levels after a meal. As it turns out, it does. "The subjects had similar blood sugar levels after eating the bland meals and the chili containing meals," Dr. Ball told me, "but

their insulin levels were different." Why does this matter? Because chronically high levels of insulin can be a risk factor for metabolic syndrome, heart disease, diabetes and obesity. "Chili is probably having some effect on the ability of the body to clear -- or remove -- insulin from the bloodstream," Dr. Ball said. The chili preparation used in the study consisted of 30 grams a day of freshly chopped chili blend, a commercially available chutney that consisted of 55% cayenne chili plus a few other ingredients -- such as water and sugar. Dr. Ball believes that capsaicin was responsible for the effect -- the compound responsible for the heat or pungency in chili peppers. Capsaicin is also the active ingredient in the chemical pepper spray. While it's responsible for the burning heat you feel when you eat a really hot chili pepper, it also has significant health benefits. "We suspect it has significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory

properties," Dr. Ball told me, which could also be important in reducing atherosclerosis. Though blood sugar went up about the same in all test subjects regardless of whether they were fed chili containing meals or bland meals, those with the chili containing meals had less insulin in their bloodstream on post-eating measures. The implication? The chili lowered the insulin-induced cortisol response to the meal, which promoted a more stable blood sugar level. Interestingly, the results were more pronounced in those with a higher BMI (body mass index). More studies will no doubt come on capsaicin. In the meantime, the weather is getting cooler, so go ahead and enjoy that chili. Be well, Carole Jackson Bottom Line's Daily Health News It seems that we may almost have a double standard as far as medical theories are concerned. As long as man does something, it's science. When nature does something, it's quackery. - Dr G E Poesnecker, (Nature Cure 2000).

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