Burning Foods
It’s true:
Certain foods have a very high thermo genic effect, so you literally scorch calories as you chew. Other eats contain nutrients and compounds that stoke your metabolic fire. Feed your metabolism with these.
Consuming certain foods can lead to a reduction in body fat. When a person adds these fat-burning foods to the diet, they can burn fat and lose weight over time. Such fat-burning foods include eggs, nuts, and oily fish.
The term “fat-burning foods” may apply to those that produce fat loss by stimulating metabolism, reducing appetite, or reducing overall food intake.
All foods stimulate metabolism. However, some types of food, such as chili peppers, might have a larger impact on metabolism than others. Eating these foods may lead to weight loss.
Certain foods, such as nuts, can also offset hunger for longer than others. Consuming these foods may help control appetite and reduce overall food intake, leading to weight loss.
Whole grains
Your body burns twice as many calories breaking down whole foods (especially those rich in fiber such as oatmeal and brown rice) than processed foods.
Lean meats
Protein has a high thermo genic effect: You burn about 30% of the calories the food contains during digestion (so a 300-calorie chicken breast requires about 90 calories to break it down).
Peas are high in vitamins, minerals, and fiber. They also contain complex carbohydrates, which are a good source of energy.
Split peas also contain proteins that can offset hunger.
Low-fat dairy products
Rich in calcium and vitamin D, these help preserve and build muscle mass—essential for maintaining a robust metabolism. Burning Foods.
Green tea
Drinking four cups of green tea a day helped people shed more than six pounds in eight weeks, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports. Credit EGCG, a compound in the brew that temporarily speeds metabolism after sipping it. To up your intake, keep a jug of iced tea in the fridge. Burning foods.
Green tea is a beneficial source of antioxidants and may have several health benefits. One of these benefits includes weight loss.
A high-quality review from 2012, published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, found that green tea consumption led to weight loss in adults who were overweight or obese.
Lentils
One cup packs 35% of your daily iron needs—good news, since up to 20% of us are iron- deficient. When you lack a nutrient, your metabolism slows because the body’s not getting what it needs to work efficiently, says Tammy Lakatos Shames, RD, co-author of The Secret to Skinny. Burning Foods.
Hot peppers
Capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their kick, heats up your body, which makes you melt additional calories. You can get it by eating raw, cooked, dried, or powdered peppers, says Lakatos Shames. “Add as much cayenne or hot sauce as possible to soups, eggs, and meats.”
The amount of weight loss was small but consistently present across several different studies.
Adding fat-burning foods to the diet
In some cases, it is possible to base a meal on a fat-burning food. For example, it may consist of oily fish such as salmon with vegetables. Another option is to have eggs with whole-grain toast for breakfast.
For vegetarians and vegans, plant-based meals that are rich in protein can be a useful way to aid weight loss. Mixing fat-burning foods such as split peas with other beneficial sources of protein is one way of doing this. Examples of this include split pea soup, or split pea dal.
It may also be beneficial to choose fat-burning snacks such as nuts. Such snacks are more able to satisfy hunger and control appetite than others, such as chocolate or chips.
Certain foods can help a person burn fat and lose weight. However, it is important to remember that fat-burning foods must be part of a healthful diet overall. Also, a person must engage in regular physical activity to burn fat and lose weight.
