As strange as it might sound there are certain foods out there that when eat will technically help you burn fat. When I first learnt about this concept - some years back now - I scoffed at the idea; but after further investigation I realized that there was a lot of truth to the suggestion that certain foods really can help you burn fat.
The real truth of the matter is that certain foods will use up more of your calories during the digestion process than what is actually contained within them. For example if food 'A' contains 100 calories and it uses up 110 calories to digest it you'll burn-off 10 calories. Good 'eh?
Now you've got a little bit of theoretical knowledge behind this bizarre concept. I'll let you know which foods fit the bill.
The first category of fat burning foods is fruit. The following pieces of fruit are fantastic things to eat when you're dieting.
FruitApple - 40 calories, 10g carbohydrates - Apples are a great fat burning food because they are so versatile; many low fat recipes may contain this fruit.
Apricot - 9 calories, 7g carbohydrates - Although apricots are a very good fat burning food - because they contain less than 10 calories - they are pretty high in carbs for the amount of energy they give you. Therefore they are not the ideal food for people on low carb diets.
Blackberries (100g) - 50 calories, 12g carbohydrate - Berries such as these are great to eat when dieting. If you find yourself craving something sweet, don't reach for a chocolate bar grab a handful of blackberries. They are packed with natural goodness and sweetness.
Blueberries (100g) - 52 calories, 12g carbohydrate - These are great, they contain a nice level of calories and carbs and are ideal for high fiber diets due to their high fiber content.
Cherries (100g) - 53 calories, 12g carbohydrates - I love cherries they are so tasty and are very low in calories and pretty low in carbs. Great for any diet.
Grapes (100g) - 60 calories, 14g carbohydrates - These are very good fat burners, although I would advise drinking 3 bottles of wine in one sitting though.
Grapefruit (100g) - 50 calories, 10g carbohydrates - These are fantastic and you can have a great start to the day by eating these for breakfast too.
Lemon - 11 calories, 3g carbohydrates - These are one of the best fat burning foods because they contain very few calories and carbs; probably down to the fact that they contain a lot of juice.
Lime - 8 calories, 1g carbohydrates - If you think that lemons fit the dieting bill perfectly then limes are off the radar - very few calories or carbs - fat burning dynamite!
Mango - 80 calories, 20g carbohydrates - Great food to eat if your hungry as it fills you up nicely, the calorific and carbohydrate content aren't bad either.
Orange - 42 calories, 10g carbohydrates - Not the best calorie to carb ratio when compared to other lemons and limes but they are extremely versatile.
Pear - 64 calories, 16g carbohydrates - Pears a really tasty but not the best fruit for those carb watchers out there.
Pineapple (100g) - 37 calories, 8g carbohydrates - Pineapple is quite possibly my favourite fruit, very tasty, very versatile, very good fat burning food.
Raspberries (100g) - 24 calories, 5g carbohydrate - These are on of the best fruits to eat when dieting, they contain very little calories, they're a pretty good anti-oxidant and they're packed full of fiber too.
Strawberries (100g) - 28 calories, 6g carbohydrates - strawberries are fantastic, they're one of the tastiest fruits known to man and they don't contain very many calories either.
Vegetables (100g serving)Artichoke (Jerusalem) - 40 calories, 8g carbohydrates - As you can see the main nutritional values for dieting purposes are pretty good, perhaps the carb level is a bit high for you Atkins' dieters out there, but pretty good none the less.
Asparagus - 12 calories, 4g carbohydrates - Asparagus is a great fat burning food, it's calorific rating is so low that you can eat as much as you want, but eating too much may lead your body into acting anti-socially, if you known what I mean. :-)
Broccoli - 25 calories, 1g carbohydrates - Not very many people's favourite vegetable but this is one of the best pieces of food you can possibly eat when dieting; and as you can see, is perfect for you carb watchers out there. Broccoli is packed full of nutrients too, but try not to over cook it as doing so will quickly diminish its nutritional goodness.
Brussel sprouts - 25 calories, 1g carbohydrates - Again, not the most popular vegetable out there, but very good for you. This is probably my favourite vegetable. And know I'm not a mad. ;-)
Cabbage - 20 calories, 2g carbohydrate - Not a lot of people like cabbage but it's a great ant-oxidant and what's more it's very low carb and calorific levels.
Carrots - 37 calories, 8g carbohydrates - Carrots are as versatile as they come, you can bake them, boil them or just eat them raw as a snack which makes them a 'must include' food in any diet.
Cauliflower - 20g calories, 2g carbohydrates - A great fat burning food and goes well with most meals, and is pretty tasty to boot.
Celery - 12 calories, 3g carbohydrates - Quite possibly one of the best foods you can eat when you're on a diet. It's low in calories - so you can eat as much as you want - and it's actually quite filling.
Cucumber - 9 calories, 6g carbohydrates - Not the best food in terms of calorie to carb ratio, but is an excellent fat burning food due to this low calorie rating.
Leeks - 20 calories, 3g carbohydrates - Leeks have an excellent calorie to carb ratio so are great for keeping trim. Leeks are very tasty when they're put in a soup.
Mushrooms - 25 calories, 2g carbohydrates - For those of you out there who like mushrooms these are fantastic, not only can you eat them any time of the day they go with pretty much any type of meal too, and even better than that they contain hardly any carbs and have very few calories per 100g serving.
Onions - 25 calories, 4g carbohydrates - Looking at their nutritional facts, it's hard to see why onions make people cry. These are one of the best ant-oxidants known to man, but try not to eat too may of them because they tend to linger on one's breath for hours.
Peas - 60 calories, 6g carbohydrates - Peas are great, when fresh. Tinned garden peas tend to have more carbs than, say marrowfat because of the sugary juice they're kept in, therefore if you must eat tinned peas go for the latter option.
Spinach - 30 calories, 2g carbohydrate - Spinach is a great fat burning food and is great if you're on a high fiber diet or a low carb diet due to their organic make-up; no wonder Popeye loves it.
Turnip - 12 calories, 2g carbohydrates - These are brilliant, not only do they contain a lot of fiber they score very impressively in the calorie and carbohydrates stakes too.
Tomato - 20 calories, 3g carbohydrates - Along with cucumber, tomato is actually a fruit, but as many people know it as a vegetable I've included it in this section. Tomatoes are fantastic they're probably the most versatile vegetable you can get and you can enjoy them any time of the day.
Fish & Meat (per 100g)Bass - 90 calories, 1g carbohydrates - Bass is very tasty and contains very little calories when compared to other fish such as herring.
Cod - 80 calories, 1g carbohydrates - This is probably the most popular fish and is pretty low in calories. I reckon this is my favourite fish.
Crab -120 calories, 1g carbohydrates - Not very many people involve crab within their diets. This is probably down to the fact that there is a perception that it's difficult to cook. It's not as hard as you think, so give it a try.
Flounder - 70 calories, 1g carbohydrates - As you can see the flounder has a very low calorific rating so is seen as a fantastic fat burning food.
Lobster - 120 calories, 1g carbohydrates - A very tasty shellfish but is pretty expensive, but its calorific rating is low, so treat yourself every now and again.
Trout - 125 calories, 1g carbohydrates - Trout is often unfairly labeled 'the poor man's salmon', but I think trout is great, it's very tasty and packed full of omega3.
Tuna - 120 calories, 1g carbohydrates - Tuna is probably one of the best foods out there for dieting purposes, as my cat can testify. It's extremely low in fat compared to other fish and is extremely versatile.
Steak (sirloin) - 170 calories, 0g carbohydrates - Although probably not the best food you ca eat whilst on a diet because of its pretty high fat content. Steak is very tasty and has very good fat burning properties.
That concludes my top 40 list of fat burning food. The best foods are the ones with high volume and low calories, because the calories contained within these foods will be burnt off quickly leaving more opportunity for your body to burn off any excess calories while digesting this food..
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