ABSTRACT
The holistic experience of eating is the integration of myriad senses. While scientific zeitgeist has focused on the ultimate and penultimate sensations of retronasal olfaction and gustation, other, less clearly defined sensations warrant heuristic exploration. The concept of thermogenesis is that energy is required to digest food. In the process, an exothermic reaction occurs, burning calories in the production of heat. The ingestion of these thermogenic agents in the form of capsules, where the chemoesthetic sensory experience is included, has been thoroughly evaluated. In addition, the food may be even have to be solid or semi-solid for hot chili pepper to have an effect. Ingestion by ten subjects of capsaicin in the form of five grams of ground chili pepper dissolved in 200 ml of glucose drink, resulted in a 20% increase in metabolic rate, with persistent thermogenesis for one-half hour.
