Fat Burning Foods
We are always trying to learn new ways to burn more fat. Mostly, the advice is
to eat less and exercise more so that calorie burn exceeds calorie intake,
resulting in a calorie deficit, and our bodies burn fat. Which results in weight
loss and our clothes fitting better. Which makes us happy.
But what you eat can help as well. Fat burning foods do exist, and are really
easy to get. And they are all really healthy and good for you. Fat burning foods
don’t contain many calories, have lots of fibre – also known as roughage – in
them and are packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. These latter
mop up Free Radicals (rogue cells roaming around the body) and help in the
prevention of cancer.
Fibre-rich fat burning foods:
Fibre is present in foods in natural form, such as wholegrains (unprocessed
wheat, barley, rye), brown rice; most fruit and veg with edible tough skins,
and potatoes. The fibre in these foods is not digested, but passes through into
the bowel cleaning up fatty deposits and other waste as it goes – and is then
excreted. Fibre is essential for good health and hardly any of us in the western
world eat enough of it on a daily basis (18g).
An ounce of dried apricots, for instance contains around 4.5g fibre, a jacket
potato 2.4g.
These foods burn fat because the body has to work hard to digest them. They
are also very nutritious and keep you feeling fuller for longer, so you are less
likely to overeat. Fibre also stops your digestive system reabsorbing a natural
substance called bile salts – so that fat is less likely to be reabsorbed. High
levels of bile salts are linked to diets high in saturated fats and have been
implicated as causing bowel and colon cancer.
Other fat burning foods:
Think apples, oranges, grapefruit, all kinds of berries – in fact most fruit with
edible skins. Wash but don’t peel, as the fat burning properties lie close to the
skin. Eat the skins of jacket potatoes as well as the flesh.
Apples and most berries contain pectin – a natural chemical that stops your
cells absorbing too much fat. Pectin also makes jam set!
Salad vegetables such as cucumber, celery, radishes stimulate your kidneys to
flush out fatty deposits. Lettuce and other greens such as cabbage, sprouts
and broccoli help the liver deal with fat and clean out the stomach. They are
also powerhouses of vitamins and contain few calories. Eat as close to raw as
you can – nothing worse than Brussels sprouts that have been boiled to death.
Nothing smells worse, either! Steam briefly or shred and stir fry.
surface.
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