WEIGHT LOSS TRICK: spice up your drinks with chilli to burn fat and and boost your metabolism

Could spicing up your drinks/food help you lose weight? Recent studies showed that a key chemical contained in chillies could boost your body's ability to burn fat.

So how does it work? It's no secret that eating hot foods such as curries and Mexican chillies makes us feel warm. This is because capsaicin, the chemical that gives chillies and chilli-based spices such as cayenne and paprika their characteristic pungency, stimulates a natural process whereby some of the food we eat at each meal is converted immediately to heat. 

Called diet-induced thermogenesis, this process is good news for dieters because it means we burn up calories automatically rather than storing them.

Researchers have discovered that spicing up a fatty meal with chilli powder significantly increases levels of diet-induced thermogenesis; studies showed that chili-based food increases the number and activity of so-called "brown" fat cells, which burn energy, rather than store it as typical "white" fat cells do.

So if you're looking to put your excess dietary fat into the fire, here are four spicy drinks recipes: these drinks not only have less than 100 calories but also help boost your metabolism and burn fat!!!

Easy Mexican hot chocolate

Makes: 2 servings - Total time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons instant hot chocolate mix
• 1 tablespoon chocolate syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch chili powder
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cup boiling water

Directions
In a large mug, mix the hot chocolate mix, chocolate syrup, cinnamon, and chili powder. Pour in the milk. Add the boiling water and stir.

Nutrition facts per serving: Calories 92 - Carbohydrates 18.3 g - Cholesterol 2 mg - Fat 1.3 g - Fiber 1.2 g - Protein 2.1 g - Sodium 85 mg

Spicy mocha

Makes: 10 servings - Prep time: 20 minutes - Total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 12 cups water
• 2 cups coffee (coarsely ground dark roast)
• 1/2 cup coffee creamer (powdered)
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp chili pepper (ground red)
• 10 tbsps bourbon (optional)
• 10 tbsps whipped topping (optional)

Directions

Bring water to a boil in a large sauce pan. Add coffee grounds to pan. Remove from heat and allow to stand 15 minutes or until coffee grounds sink to bottom of the pot. Pour into another large saucepan through a fine mesh strainer. Combine creamer and next 4 ingredients (through pepper). Add to pan, stirring with a whisk. Optional: serve coffee mixture with bourbon and whipped topping.

Nutrition facts per serving: Calories 90 - Total Fat 3.5g - Saturated Fat 2g - Trans Fat 0g - Cholesterol 5mg - Sodium 25mg - Potassium 80mg - Total Carbohydrate 8g - Dietary Fiber 1g - Sugars 7g - Protein less than 1g - Vitamin A 2% DV - Vitamin C 0% DV - Calcium 4% DV - Iron 2% DV.

Thai iced tea

Makes: serving 20 - Prep time: 5 minutes - Total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 gal water (distilled)
• 1 cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 tbsp black pepper
• 1/2 tbsp chili pepper
• 1/3 cup coffee (kona ground, optional)
• 3 cups teas (pantai norasingh thai, mix)

 Tea sugar syrup

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp pancake syrup (butter)
• 1/4 tsp vanilla flavoring (vanillin powder artificial)
• 1 pinch sea salt
• 1-1/2 cups water (distilled)

Directions

TEA DIRECTIONS - Bring one gallon of water to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Stir in tea leaves, cinnamon, black pepper, chili pepper, and coffee. Stir for 2 to 5 minutes until most of the tea leaves start to sink. Cover. Remove mixture from heat and let steep 10 minutes.
Tip: if you want a clean crisp tea fill the pitcher up with ice before adding and straining the tea. If you want a dark bold flavor do not add the ice at this step!

Pour tea through a "cloth tea filter sock" or nylon sock into a pitcher, discarding tea leaves. Cool to room temp (if iced cool until ice is melted). Pour tea a second time through "cloth tea filter sock" or nylon sock into a empty gallon water bottle (make sure the lid can be place on tight). Cap and refrigerate.
TEA SUGAR SYRUP DIRECTIONS - Mix all ingredients a large pot. Cook at medium to high heat. Once the mixture boils remove from stove immediately. Let cool and refrigerate.
TO SERVE - Fill a glass with 7 oz crushed ice pour tea over ice up to 8 oz. Add 1/2 to 2 oz of sugar syrup. At "tableside" add 1 to 2 oz of half-and-half.
Traditional variation: substitute coconut milk or evaporated milk for half & half.

Nutrition facts per serving: Calories 60 - Fat 0 - Cholesterol 0mg - Sodium 20mg - Potassium 10mg - Total Carbohydrate 14g - Dietary Fiber 0g - Sugars 14g -0 Protein 0g - Calcium 2% DV.

Spicy tomato juice

Makes: serving 4 - Total time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 stalks of celery, leaves attached
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 red chile peppers, for garnish (optional)

Directions

Place celery in a juice extractor; process, extracting about 1/2 cup juice. Transfer to bowl of a food processor or jar of a blender. Add chopped tomatoes, jalapeno, lemon juice, celery seed, black pepper, and salt. Process until fairly smooth, with some texture remaining. Garnish with chile peppers, and serve over ice, if desired. 

Nutrition facts per serving: Calories 40 - Total Fat 1.5g - Saturated Fat 0g - Trans Fat 0g - Cholesterol less than 5mg - Sodium 240mg - Potassium 200mg - Total Carbohydrate 5g - Dietary Fiber less than 1g - Sugars 2g - Protein 2g - Vitamin A 8% DV - Vitamin C 25% DV - Calcium 2% DV - Iron 4% DV.

Enjoy your drink and... your waistline!

Want to know more about the wonders of chilli? Read these:
BENEFITS OF CHILI PEPPERS FOR WEIGHT LOSS
COLD TEMPERATURES AND SPICY FOOD HELP BURN FAT 


Sources: http://allrecipes.com/, http://www.yummly.com/recipe/, http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Thai, http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Spicy-Tomato-Juice