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 10 overweight men in their thirties 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 dissolved in it. Men had a greater sense of fullness after the ginger drink, and 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.
