Could it be possible? Are there really foods out there that, when eaten, will burn our fat away?
Or is that just too good to be true? Tubby investigates….

The definition of  fat-burning foods is that these are foods that take up as many calories to digest as they actually contain. If you were hoping that Cheeseburgers were included, then I’m afraid that you’ll be disappointed!

Digesting food is work for our bodies – and work requires energy in the form of food intake. Just how much energy depends on the food itself. It has been proved that processed food takes little energy to digest and is mostly stored as fat – much of the nutrition is stripped from this type of food. Vitamin and fibre content is depleted; food such as takeout burger with fries offers very little that is good for you, and much that is bad!

This type of food is digested too quickly, causing sudden rises in your blood sugar, followed by an equally sudden drop, which causes you to feel tired and unsatisfied and quickly hungry again. Hardly any calories are expended during digestion of such food.

Fat-burning foods are the exact opposite of this; the less a food has been bleached, processed and “messed with”, the more filling and nutritious it will be, the longer it will take you to digest it, and the more calories it will take to do so. Fat-burning foods also have the effect of waking up your system and kick-starting your metabolism, and assist in flushing fat out.

So here is a list of great fat-burning foods:

Wholegrains (oats, barley, wholewheat etc.)

Choose granary bread, brown pasta and rice, wholegrain cereal with no added sugar or salt, oatmeal porridge and so on – the more unprocessed the better. The wholegrain part is called insoluble fibre, provides bulk and is not digested by the gut – it passes through the bowel and “cleans up” as it goes. Insoluble fibre helps clear out fatty deposits and is essential for bowel health. In some African countries where all food is unprocessed, colon and bowel cancers are completely unheard of, whereas in the developed world, these cancers are in the top 5 fatal diseases.
Needless to say, foods containing fibre fill you up for longer as they take longer to digest.

Citrus fruits (fresh)

Oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes, tangerines…there’s got to be something you like in there! Choose loose, unwaxed and eat as soon as possible. Squeeze fresh lemon on your cooked vegetables like the Greeks do, try lime juice on fresh salmon. All contain Vitamin C which helps dilute fat and loosen cholesterol deposits. Vitamin C is also essential for the absorption of iron into your body – drink a glass of freshly-squeezed orange with your main meal instead of tea or coffee (which actually block iron absorption). Vitamin C cannot be stored by the body, so snack on fresh fruit every day.

Other fruit

Apples, raspberries, strawberries – in fact all types of berries. Apples are an absolute star, containing pectin and soluble fibre as well as vitamins. Soluble fibre helps the gut and lowers cholesterol, while pectin limits the amount of fat a cell can store. Apples are inexpensive, available all year round and weigh in at only 50 calories!

Salad vegetables

Tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce (as dark green type as possible), celery, radishes – all contain few calories, are loaded with vitamins, minerals and anti-cancer compounds, flush out your kidneys as they contain mostly water, and burn more calories during digestion than they contain. Add to every meal – sneak them into every sandwich; put a bowl of salad on the table even if you’re only having egg and chips. Eat a rainbow of colours every day!

Fat burning foods certainly do exist and adding them to your diet every day will make a big difference to your health, weight and wellbeing. So you’ll not only look good, you’ll feel great!

All the best, and good luck to you,

Carol J Bartram
(Personal Trainer, Pilates Instructor & Massage Therapist)

Fat Burning Foods