We know there’s no magic formula for being fit. It takes devotion to eating healthier and a program of regular exercise. At Wholly You Fitness in Oceanside, CA, we focus on that. However, tips about healthy “fat burning” foods, can help you save a few extra calories every month. Fat burning foods have a thermogenic effect. It means the calories necessary to digest them can cut the number of calories they provide by a significant amount. Basically, they make your weight loss easier. Think of celery, which is often touted as a dieter’s friend. It contains very few calories, but takes quite a few to digest.
Some higher protein foods, such as lean meat or beans have a thermogenic effect.
Food high in protein not only take longer to digest, so you feel full longer, they also burn about 30% more calories than other types of food. If you ate a serving size of meat that had the same number of calories as a cookie, you’d only be able to use 2/3rds of the calories from the meat, since the rest went into digesting the meat. Protein can increase your metabolism by as much as 35% for several hours after consumption.
Hot spicy food can boost your metabolism.
If you’re a fan of chili peppers, there’s good news for you. That heat from the capsaicin in the ribs and pith of the chili not only burns your mouth, it burns calories, too. Capsaicin helps prevent metabolic slow down and reduces your appetite by making you feel fuller. In a mega study using thousands of participants, people who consumed capsaicin burned about 50 extra calories a day. Unfortunately, if you consume chili peppers every day, your body adjusts to the heat and the thermogenic effect declines. Capsaicin is also an anti-inflammatory.
Food with fiber or omega3 burn calories and some burn fat specifically around the middle.
Food high in fiber has the same benefits as protein. It keeps you feeling fuller longer and burns extra calories for digestion. Fiber also slows the absorption of sugar, which levels blood sugar and reduces insulin levels that can spike and cause fat to accumulate around your mid section. Foods high in fiber include whole grains, oatmeal and brown rice. Foods with Omega3 fatty acids, like salmon, walnuts and kale, trigger fat burning.
Green tea contains EGCG, which promotes fat burning, especially around your middle. It also contains caffeine, which increases your metabolism.
Seeds and nuts have a thermogenic effect. Sprinkle some pumpkin seeds or ground flaxseed on your cereal in the morning to increase nutrition and burn extra calories.
Adding herbs and spices to your food not only boosts flavor without adding extra calories, it can boost health benefits and metabolism. Turmeric, especially combined with black pepper, has a thermogenic effect.
Foods like bananas are higher in potassium, which can boost your basal metabolism, which is the number of calories burned as you rest. Get your potassium from food rather than a supplement, as too much can have dangerous side effects.