London - Drinking hot water with a touch of ginger may help to burn calories and encourage weight loss.
Scientists from Columbia University in the US gave ten overweight men in their 30s two types of breakfast on different days.
On one day they had muffins, orange juice and a glass of hot water, and on the second morning they had the same breakfast, but the hot water had 2g of powdered ginger (available in supermarkets) dissolved in it.
Results show that men had a greater sense of fullness after the ginger drink, and they burnt 43 more calories in the six hours following the meal.
The team were unclear as to the mechanism behind this, as no effect was observed on insulin or hunger hormones produced in the stomach or gut.
Previous research has shown that gingermay help boost metabolism, and the American scientists hope to perform larger studies to investigate this. - Daily Mail