What is it that makes two people with the same weight, diet and level of activity lose or gain weight at different rates? Different metabolisms, that's what! An efficient metabolism can help you burn calories and lose weight faster, but a slow metabolism makes weight loss nearly impossible.

Fortunately, there are natural ways to speed up the metabolic process. One way is to make exercise a part of your daily routine. Exercise increases your heart rate and allows you to burn more calories even when you're resting. Another way is to incorporate spiced foods into your diet on a regular basis. The exact mechanism of how spices work to influence metabolism still remains unclear, but studies suggest that they effectively increase body temperature thus making us burn more calories even without exercising. Now if only scientists could find a way to combine the two methods into an easy to swallow pill.

In fact-they have! It's called the tri-pepper blend and according to Joel T. Cramer, assistant professor of exercise physiology from the University of Oklahoma, the new weight loss supplement has the potential to burn as many calories as a 20-minute walk. Cramer says General Nutrition Centres contracted with the University to test the benefits of the supplement. Because of the University's ability to provide research support needed for new product development, they have developed relationships within the nutritional supplement industry. Since Cramer arrived at OU in 2005 with a model of funding for industry grants, departmental funds have increased to nearly $3 million, allowing for an increase in the number of nutritional studies, which can provide vital information to the industry.

During the study, participants were given either the supplement or a placebo. Afterwards they underwent a metabolic rate test, which measured oxygen consumed and carbon dioxide produced by each participant. Results showed energy expenditures of 3 percent to 6 percent-statistics significant enough to confirm the viability of the weight loss supplement, Cramer said. Tri-pepper blend contains black pepper, caffeine, and a concentrated form of capsaicin, a colourless compound that is the source of the heat in hot peppers. Black pepper gets its spicy heat mostly from the piperine compound, which is about one percent as hot as the capsaicin in chile peppers, milligram for milligram. Caffeine is thought to stimulate thermogenesis-one way the body generates heat and energy from digesting food-and to briefly reduce appetite. Caffeine also acts as a diuretic, which mean it increases the amount of urine you excrete causing a temporary decrease in body weight.