Researchers created a cake for weight loss

Mouth-watering chocolates and cakes to help you burn off calories could soon be a reality, with researchers claiming to have found an ingredient from chilli peppers which speeds up the body's metabolism.

This "miracle" extract, known as dihydrocapsiate (DHC), is one of the several chemical compounds called capsinoids found in a particular variety of chilli. It is tasteless and speeds up the body's metabolism, helping one to burn more calories. The substance is already sold in the form of diet supplement pills in the US and Japan, but it could soon be used as a food additive in Britain, according to British tabloid Daily Mail.

Now a Japanese food firm Ajinomoto has submitted plans to the Food Standards Agency watchdog with the aim of adding it to chocolate bars, desserts and ready meals targeted towards dieters. The FSA has recently declared the extract safe. However, dieticians say that eating the foods won’t really have any effect.