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Avoid bland and snack instead on fiery pickles, hot chillis and strong flavours that your brain will remember. As you nibble on these passionate snacks, amuse yourself with the news that researchers at Laval University in Canada have recently found that eating hot peppers can speed up your metabolism, cool your cravings and lower your calorie intake. Apparently, capsaicin - a compound found in jalapeño and cayenne peppers - "temporarily stimulates your body to release more stress hormones, which speeds up your metabolism and causes you to burn more calories".