Be honest, you've tried losing weight and it failed miserably, didn't it? The body is unusually stubborn at retaining body fat but is actually capable of easily disposing of the blubber, only if you know how to nudge it in the right direction.
I had been struggling to lose weight for 5 years until I discovered the bounty of aromatic spices. The problem for me was the inability to curb appetite and make the healthy meals more appetizing to chow down. I mean, tuna is great but there's only so much tuna I can eat before becoming nauseous at the sight of it. I didn't need more tuna but more ways to satiate my hunger by making tuna taste better.
I struggled until I discovered aromatic spices, at which point my meals actually became tasty. What, a tasty tuna?! From everything I've read about them, spices such as black pepper, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon curb appetite and reverse obesity-related organ changes while also making meals taste better. How exactly do they help? Well, let's examine them one by one.
Black pepper boasts piperine as the active ingredient responsible for the pungent taste. Ground black pepper is best eaten in soups; I chew down peppercorns with meals.
A 2011 Indian study titled "Effect of piperine in the regulation of obesity-induced dyslipidemia in high-fat diet rats" gave rats a high-fat diet (HFD), with some of them also being fed piperine. The study concludes that:
Supplementing piperine with HFD significantly reduced not only body weight, triglyceride, total cholesterol, LDL, VLDL, and fat mass, but also increased the HDL levels, with no change in food intake.
A 2016 Italian-US study titled "Piperine's mitigation of obesity and diabetes can be explained by its up-regulation of the metabolic rate of resting muscle" states that piperine made the metabolism of resting-state muscles 50-80% more active, concluding that:
The results described here show that up-regulation of resting muscle metabolism could treat obesity and type 2 diabetes and that piperine would provide a useful lead compound for the development of these therapies.
A 2013 Australian study titled "Piperine attenuates cardiovascular, liver and metabolic changes in high carbohydrate, high fat-fed rats" monitored rats on a high-carb, high-fat (HCHF) diet, stating that:
Supplementation with piperine (375 mg/kg food; approximately 30 mg/kg/day) in HCHF-fed rats normalized blood pressure, improved glucose tolerance and reactivity of aortic rings, reduced plasma parameters of oxidative stress and inflammation, attenuated cardiac and hepatic inflammatory cell infiltration and fibrosis and improved liver function.
These changes clearly suggest that piperine reduces symptoms of human metabolic syndrome in HCHF-fed rats by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress.
Sweet powdery spice. Can be bought whole and grated for each meal but it's a real hassle since it requires a special grater. I eat 1/10 of a teaspoon sprinkled over toast with each meal.
A 2019 Indian study titled "Effect of Myristica fragrans extract on total body composition in cafeteria diet induced obese rats" fed Swiss albino rats the ultra-dense, processed foods (cafeteria diet) and then the Myristica fragrans extract (MFE) only to find that:
Many medicinal effects of Myristica fragrans both in vitro and in vivo has been evaluated, and it has been revealed that Myristica fragrans extract plays a preventive role against adipose tissue growth by activating AMPK enzyme in differentiated C2, C12 cells.
The dose 2000mg/kg showed neither visible sign of toxicity nor mortality till the end of the study period 14 days. The results clearly indicated non-toxicity of the dose of 2000mg/kg.
After 70days of treatment with MFE 200mg/kg, 400mg/kg body weight reduced by 9.29% and 12.87% respectively. BMI was also decreased.
A 2010 Korean study "AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activators from Myristica fragrans (nutmeg) and their anti-obesity effect" states that:
AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of metabolic syndrome including obesity and type-2 diabetes.
(...) nutmeg and its active constituents can be used not only for the development of agents to treat obesity and possibly type-2 diabetes but may also be beneficial for other metabolic disorders.
Ginger is an aromatic root that tastes like a spicy lemon. I eat a fingernail-sized slice of raw ginger with each meal.
A 2019 Chinese study titled "Bioactive Compounds and Bioactivities of Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe)" states:
Accumulated investigations have demonstrated that ginger possesses multiple biological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticancer, neuroprotective, cardiovascular protective, respiratory protective, antiobesity, antidiabetic, antinausea, and antiemetic activities. (emphasis added)
(...) both ginger and orlistat [anti-obesity drug also known as Xenical and Alli] reduced the body weight and lipid profile of high-fat diet rats, while ginger had a greater effect on increasing the level of HDL-C than orlistat did. In a randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled study, obese women receiving 2g of ginger powder daily had a decreased body mass index (BMI).
A 2018 South Korean study titled "Gingerenone A, a polyphenol present in ginger, suppresses obesity and adipose tissue inflammation in high-fat diet-fed mice" found out gingerenone A (GA) concentration increases in dried or heated ginger and that:
AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a major energy sensor in the cell, is activated when energy demands increase
Visualized and quantitative data demonstrated that treatment with non-toxic concentrations of GA reduced lipid accumulation in a dose-dependent fashion
Although gingerols are highly contained in fresh ginger, those concentrations decrease after processing (e.g. heating or drying) in contrast to shogaols, which increase. In addition, recent finding demonstrate that GA concentrations increase in heated ginger, and exerted anti-cancer effects.
Another 2018 South Korean study, titled "Ginger Extract Ameliorates Obesity and Inflammation via Regulating MicroRNA-21/132 Expression and AMPK Activation in White Adipose Tissue", reveals that:
AMPK activation reduces lipogenesis and triglyceride synthesis, and prevents the expression and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines [29]. In a high-fat high-carbohydrate diet-fed rat model, ginger extract increased AMPKα phosphorylation and total AMPKα in skeletal muscle
A 2019 study Canadian-Chinese study titled "Bioactive Compounds and Bioactivities of Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe)" says that:
Besides, ginger extract protected against breast cancer in mice through the activation of 5’adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK)
Gingerenone A could also modulate fatty acid metabolism via the activation of AMPK in vivo, attenuating diet-induced obesity.
Additionally, ginger has the potential to be the ingredient for functional foods or nutriceuticals, and ginger could be available for the management and prevention of several diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, obesity, neurodegenerative diseases, nausea, emesis, and respiratory disorders.
Another 2019 Chinese study titled "Dietary ginger as a traditional therapy for blood sugar control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus" looked at how ginger affects blood sugar (HbA1c) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and notes that:
Additionally, dietary ginger significantly improved HbA1c from baseline to follow-up showing that this natural medicine might have an impact on glucose control over a longer period of time in patients with T2DM.
Black pepper, nutmeg and ginger are a great addition to any meal and are extraordinarily safe for human consumption; if they help with weight loss, even better. The main reason why they're not already used in prescriptions instead of synthetic drugs is that there's no telling what the side effects are or whether the same dose will work for everyone the same way.
Black pepper, nutmeg and ginger are fairly safe but there's no telling how they will impact your body so start out slow and observe for any signs of trouble. Try nibbling on some fresh ginger before meals and you'll notice how it makes the tastebuds tingle; I can afterwards barely eat a few bites before being satiated.