Top 10 Fat-Burning Plant Based Foods

On any given day, approximately 108 million people are on a weight loss diet in the United States alone.  On average, dieters make 4 or 5 attempts to lose weight ever year. Perhaps the most challenging thing faced by someone with a weight loss goal is … how to burn body fat.

Consuming fat-burning foods can help you shed pounds and potentially reverse diabetes.  In addition, it could reduce your risk of obesity, which can lead to a higher risk of cancer and other serious health problems.  Fat-burning foods are a better option than fat-burning pills and supplements because they can also boost energy levels — without causing side effects such as anxiety, insomnia, palpitations, dizziness and vomiting.

The more commonly known fat-burning foods include animal products like fatty fish, eggs,  chicken, grass-fed beef and whey proteins. But if you’re looking to add more fat-burning foods that are completely plant-based, here are the 10 best fat-burning foods you need to support weight reduction and a healthy lifestyle:

 

  1.  Cruciferous Vegetables:

Cruciferous vegetables, such as cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, are not only abundant in health-enhancing ingredients, but they’re also some of the best fast-burning foods because they’re nutritionally dense.  They’re packed with vitamins and have low calorie counts, which means you can eat as much as you want without stacking on the pounds.

2.  Apple Cider Vinegar

In the first-ever human study investigating vinegar’s effects on weight loss, it was found that  adding 1 or 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to one’s diet can help with weight loss by reducing sugar cravings, and they also reduce one’s body fat percentage.  Ingesting apple cider vinegar before a meal also contributes to significant loss of belly fat, decreases blood triglyceride levels, and helps you feel fuller with less food.

 

  1.  Grapefruit

A study published in the journal Metabolism revealed that eating half a grapefruit before meals may help reduce visceral (belly) fat and lower cholesterol levels.  Grapefruit has also long been known as a major fat-burning food because enzymes contained in the fruit help the body break down sugar, and this helps boost your metabolism and contributes to significant weight loss.


  1.  Cayenne Pepper:

Cayenne pepper, traditionally used as a spicy seasoning for food, increases your body’s ability to burn fat and convert it to energy, which is exactly what you want when you’re attempting to shed unwanted weight.  Capsaicin, a compound found in cayenne pepper, is known to boost metabolism, causing the body to produce extra heat and burn fat faster and more easily.

5.  Chia Seeds

This humble seed from a Mexican plant has recently emerged as a superfood because it has the highest combination of omega-3 fatty acids, proteins, antioxidants, fiber and phytonutrients of any source on the planet.  This nutritional powerhouse has also been hailed as an one of the most outstanding fat-burning foods Chia seeds have the ability to absorb 12 times their own weight in water. Therefore, even just one teaspoon will make you feel full — and stop hunger and cravings.  

6. Coconut Oil

Not all fats are fattening.  Coconut oil is a dietary fat that is not only one of the healthiestl fats we can consume, but it can also help reduce body fat and overall body weight.  Replacing vegetable oils with coconut oil in your cooking and food preparation is a simple way to boost your body’s fat-burning ability.

7. Green Leafy Vegetables

Leafy greens, such as spinach, kale, collard greens and Swiss chard are abundant in nutrients and iron.  They help burn body fat by keeping the muscles functioning properly and burning calories long after a workout.   

8.  Matcha Green Tea

A recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition proved that green tea extract, which is rich in catechins, has thermogenic properties and promotes fat oxidation.  It was further discovered that consuming matcha green tea not only increased thermogenesis (the body’s rate of burning calories) from 8-10% to 35-43% of daily energy expenditure, but also enhanced both resting metabolic rate and fat-burning; plus, it reduced cholesterol levels.

9.  Black Beans

Research suggests that black beans are the closest thing we have to a fat-burning pill. Not only are they a rich source of resistant starch (a slow-digesting, insoluble fiber that feeds the healthy bacteria in the gut, triggering the production of the chemical butyrate, which encourages the body to burn fat as fuel, thereby reducing fat-causing inflammation); but they’re also one of the top sources of soluble fiber.  A recent study conducted at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center revealed that for every additional 10 grams of soluble fiber eaten per day, the belly fat of study participants was reduced by 3.7 percent over 5 years.  Black beans has an astounding 4.8 grams of this fat-busting soluble fiber.

10.  Rooibos Tea

Rooibos is an herbal tea made from the leaves of the Rooibos plant, an evergreen South African shrub of the pea family.  It has gained a reputation for its powerful fat-burning ability because it contains flavonoids and phytochemicals that can help you shed pounds and increase metabolism.  Losing weight can be as easy as replacing your normal tea with this fat-burning tea.