Piperine – characteristics, adverse effects, and usage recommendations

Piperine is an alkaloid found in the fruits and roots of black pepper (Piper nigrum) and pepper longum. It is responsible for the sharp taste of these spices.

Piperine certainly has digestive-stimulating properties. It stimulates the secretion of pancreatic enzymes as well as other enzymes involved in digestion. It may also have antioxidant and analgesic functions. Interestingly, piperine may also affect the functions of the nervous system. While it has been shown to have an anti-depressant and stimulating cognitive function in mice, but it is not excluded that piperin will have a similar effect in humans as well.

Unfortunately, there's no evidence for this. Although there was a study in which black pepper extract inhibited the proliferation of adipocytes (fatty cells), it was an in vitro study, i.e. out of the system. We can't directly infer the similar effectiveness of pepperine in the human body, although the authors themselves point out that it's worth looking at pepperin as a potential substance to help treat obesity. Moreover, black peppers have been shown to inhibit the depletion of the fat tissue of rats on the fat-rich organism.

What is presented as a benefit of pepperine is that it increases the bioavailability of certain compounds, such as curcumin, which can also be a disadvantage, especially when we are taking medicines. This compound inhibits several enzymes involved in drug metabolism. Therefore, pepperin supplementation should not be combined with medication intake.

Piperine is available in capsules containing pepper extracts with a specific pepper content. Capsules are taken as recommended on the leaflet. However, there is no specific dose to produce the expected effects in the form of fat loss.