Fat Burning And Thermogenic Foods

I often get asked by clients in the gym, “what are the best foods to eat to burn fat?”

The answer to that is quite complicated so let me explain :-

Certain foods supposedly contain “fat burning properties”,  foods like green tea and chilli peppers to name a few, and actually it turns out that there is some truth to the claims that these foods speed up your metabolic rate by the act of thermogenesis. The downside is that recent studies show that the amount is very insignificant  and using the example of green tea, you would need 4 cups of strong green tea to burn an extra 70 calories in a 24hr period. Although this helps, its unlikely to make any significant difference to fat loss over time. If you like green tea, I suggest you keep on drinking it for the myriad of other health benefits it provides.

What will help you burn fat is a nutrient dense diet consisting of foods with low calories yet with a higher thermic effect of digestion.

All foods are thermogenic in fact. What this means is that they take energy or calories to process or digest. Some foods are more thermic than others with dietary fat being the worst. The most thermic is LEAN PROTEIN from solid foods and in particular the following : -

Chicken breast

Turkey breast

All seafood

Very lean red meat (Grass fed is the best)

Game meats (venison, elk)

Bison and buffalo

Eggs

Protein has the highest thermic effect of all the macro-nutrients, requiring about 30% of the calories it contains just for digestion and processing. The added bonus of course, is the fact the lean proteins suppress your appetite!

So to go back to the original question, what are the best fat burning foods….

The answer is a combination of lean protein, fibrous vegetables such as broccoli, spinach or kale, good essential fats and the right amount of natural starchy carbs.

This can turn your body into a fat burning machine.

In the 14 day Fat Furnace, we teach you how to do this, step by step. It’s a very powerful fat burning programme and its very simple to follow.

Train hard, live easy.

Gavin @ UCF