Obesity poses a big problem to society these days. In as much as the country is being bombarded with campaigns that promote healthy lifestyle, losing weight remains to be a challenge. But in the recent study of the University of Adelaide, they have found a potential solution for obesity through hot chili.

A high-fat diet may damage important receptors in the stomach that indicates fullness. In the way our digestive system was designed, we usually feel full when our stomach stretches and activates nerves to signal us to stop eating because our stomach has reached its quota of food to digest. But a high fat diet can mess up this normal process.

Scientists have found out that the activation of nerves in the stomach responsible for the food quota can be regulated through a hot chili pepper or TRPV1 receptors. This means that overeating can possibly be prevented upon consumption of capsaicin, found in hot chili peppers, as the gastric nerves react to the said natural chemical.

As University of Adelaide, Professor Amanda Page expounded, "It is known from previous studies that capsaicin, found in hot chillies, reduces food intake in humans. And what we've discovered is that deletion of TRPV1 receptors dampens the response of gastric nerves to stretch - resulting in a delayed feeling of fullness and the consumption of more food. Therefore part of the effect of capsaicin on food intake may be mediated via the stomach. We also found that TRPV1 receptors can be disrupted in high fat diet induced obesity," she says.

As Science Daily reported, Dr. Stephen Kentish of National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and a Fellow from the University of Adelaide's School of Medicine, says these findings will give further studies and the improvement of therapies to address obesity.

"The next stage of research will involve investigation of the mechanisms behind TRPV1 receptor activation with the aim of developing a more palatable therapy. We will also do further work to determine why a high-fat diet de-sensitises TRPV1 receptors and investigate if we can reverse the damage," he says.