During a slimming diet, take advantage of the boost from certain foods that will help you lose fat faster.
While they won’t work miracles, these fruits, vegetables, and plants can be a helpful aid, notably due to the lipolytic effect of some.
Read on after the list for more background on the effect of these foods on weight loss.
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1. Eggplant
Rich in pectin, the flesh of eggplant binds and traps fats, thereby promoting their natural elimination by the body. Eggplant is also very low in calories and helps improve intestinal transit.
Recipe ideas : If you want to lose weight, favor roasted eggplant baked or steamed, lightly seasoned with miso and soy sauce, ideal for accompanying a fish or grilled poultry. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds to complete the dish.
2. Green tea
Beyond its diuretic properties, green tea is also an excellent fat-burning food due to its catechin content, known to increase thermogenesis and therefore fat burning. Made from whole green tea leaves ground into powder, matcha tea is even more interesting than regular green tea because it contains more caffeine and antioxidants.
Recipe ideas : To enjoy the many benefits of green tea, specialists recommend consuming at least 3 cups per day. However, be careful not to overdo it because tea reduces iron absorption and the theine it contains could cause difficulty falling asleep.
3. Kiwi
Low in calories, kiwi is also very rich in vitamin C, essential for the synthesis of carnitine, an amino acid that helps fat loss. It also promotes intestinal transit, thereby enabling effective elimination of ingested fats.
Recipe ideas : To improve your digestion and get plenty of vitamin C, eat one kiwi every morning at breakfast. You can also blend it with spinach, apple, banana and a little lemon juice to make a delicious green smoothie!
4. Lemon
The citric acid in lemon helps break down fats, sugars and proteins. Lemon also stimulates the metabolism and helps the liver digest more effectively, acting as a real detoxifier for the body.
Recipe ideas: Rich in vitamin C and low in calories, you can consume it throughout the day, diluted in sparkling water, for a tasty and energizing beverage.
5. Apple
Very rich in pectin, the apple is a satiating fruit that helps eliminate fat by improving intestinal transit. A true natural appetite suppressant, it also contains many interesting nutrients such as vitamin C and beta-carotene, an antioxidant essential in the synthesis of vitamin A.
Recipe ideas: To fully benefit from the apple’s appetite-suppressing effect, eat it preferably whole, to bite into. But don’t hesitate to vary things by preparing applesauce flavored with cinnamon or by roasting it in the oven. A real delight!
6. Pineapple
A fat-burning fruit par excellence, pineapple contains bromelain, a blend of enzymes capable of digesting proteins. It is also a food rich in fiber and micronutrients that will help improve intestinal transit.
Recipe ideas: It can be eaten fresh or cooked! Pineapple is indeed delicious pan-fried with a little vanilla or cinnamon, or crumble-style, under a mixture of rolled oats and coconut butter.
7. Coffee
Like green tea, coffee is an excellent fat burner! The caffeine it contains indeed helps stimulate lipolysis, that is, the breakdown of fats stored in the body. However, be careful not to exceed 3 cups of coffee per day because an excess of caffeine could, among other things, promote high blood pressure.
Recipe ideas : To choose a good coffee full of aroma and flavor, favor coffees harvested at high altitude, which are less caffeinated and more flavorful, and labeled “artisan roast”.
8. Oat bran
Sometimes confused with rolled oats, oat bran is the outer layer that surrounds the oat grain. Composed of soluble and insoluble fibers, it is an excellent natural appetite suppressant and helps trap ingested fats.
Recipe ideas : It is perfect for breakfast, served with yogurt, plant-based milk, or fresh fruit, but you can also sprinkle it on salads or use it to make bread or pancakes.
9. Bell pepper
Rich in fiber and vitamin C, the bell pepper is a low-calorie food that certainly has its place in a balanced diet. Moreover, the capsaicin it contains would stimulate the metabolism and prevent the development of immature fat cells, and thus body fat. A real asset against fat storage!
Recipe ideas : It is eaten raw, in a salad or blended into a refreshing gazpacho, or grilled and seasoned with a little olive oil.
10. Cinnamon
Cinnamon may help speed up metabolism and lower blood sugar levels to prevent it from being stored as fat. Very flavorful, it also has an appetite-suppressing effect that is particularly useful when trying to lose weight. The flavonoids it contains would indeed help control blood sugar levels (glycemia), which, when too low, trigger hunger pangs and sugar cravings.
Recipe ideas: It is incorporated into the daily diet by sprinkling it on yogurts, smoothies and applesauce or by preparing an oatmeal and cinnamon porridge for breakfast.
11. Raspberry
Red berries, and more specifically raspberries, contain a ketone, a natural active substance that traps fats and promotes fat burning. The ketone contained in red berries would also stimulate the production of adiponectin, a molecule involved, among other things, in the regulation of lipid metabolism.
Recipe ideas: To fully enjoy the benefits of raspberries, make delicious fruit salads by mixing them with other fat-burning fruits like apple and kiwi. Otherwise, blend them into smoothies, add them to a yogurt to give them a pleasantly tangy note…
12. Cabbage
Very low in calories, cabbage, whether green, white, Brussels or curly kale is also very high in insoluble fiber. Its digestion therefore leads to a high energy expenditure, thus promoting weight loss. Cabbage also helps improve intestinal transit, thereby facilitating the elimination of fats.
Recipe ideas: To make cabbage more appealing, cook it stir-fried in a wok with a little soy sauce and sesame seeds. You can also prepare an Auvergne stew with potatoes, carrots and boiled meat. Ideal for warming up during long winter evenings!
13. Guarana
Plant native to Brazil, guarana is often included in dietary supplements because of its stimulating and energizing properties and its effect on metabolism. It helps activate it, thereby burning more calories even at rest. It also helps eliminate bad cholesterol.
Recipe ideas: Not easy to cook with, but guarana powder can be mixed into juice or sprinkled over yogurt. It is also available in capsules and in drinks (but be sure to check the guarana content).
14. Avocado
Despite appearances, avocado is an excellent fat burner because it is rich in omega-3s and in monounsaturated fats, “good fats” that prevent fat storage. It also helps lower cholesterol levels and eases the liver’s work.
Recipe ideas: Delicious, avocado can be eaten both savory and sweet! Stuff it with tuna or shrimp, make it into guacamole, blend it to make a cold soup, smash it on your morning toast, the list goes on!
Discover our avocado recipe with aloe vera virgin sauce, a delicious and detoxifying starter!
15. Papaya
Containing papain and pepsin, digestive enzymes that facilitate the digestion of fats, papaya is a very interesting fruit for people wishing to lose weight. A true slimming ally, it could also help improve intestinal transit and reduce cellulite.
Recipe ideas : Papaya is delicious freshly cut but you can also bake it in the oven with coconut milk and a little powdered vanilla for an even more exotic dessert.
16. Yerba Mate
Well known to Argentinians who consume it as an infusion throughout the day, the Maté or Yerba Mate comes from an Amazonian plant related to holly. Rich in vitamins A, B and C, magnesium, calcium and antioxidants, this plant also promotes weight loss thanks to the caffeine it contains. Caffeine indeed plays a role in increasing the basal metabolic rate and has an appetite-suppressing effect.
Recipe ideas : You will find dried, cut Mate that you only need to infuse in boiling water, but know that it also exists in capsule form if you don’t particularly enjoy its flavor.
Understanding fat storage in the body
To fully understand how certain foods can help us burn fat, it is essential to go back and first explain the process of fat formation in the body.
The food we eat every day is made up of three main groups of nutrients: proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Proteins come mainly from meat, fish, eggs, and legumes; carbohydrates from fruits, cereals, and starchy foods; fats from oilseeds, dairy products, and some dried fruits.
During digestion, our body converts proteins into amino acids, carbohydrates into glucose, and fats into fatty acids. But when we consume excess fats, they cannot be converted into fatty acids and are stored as clumps of fat in adipose tissue.
But fat also originates from the glucose produced by carbohydrates and the amino acids contained in proteins. In this case, excess glucose that cannot be stored as glycogen is converted into fatty acids and stored as fat.
To slow down fat storage, you should therefore not only limit your intake of fats, but also of carbohydrates and proteins! In other words, it is essential to adopt a balanced diet, rich in fruits and vegetables, high-quality proteins and healthy fats.
How is fat used by the body?
Now that we better understand how the fat storage mechanism works, we can move on to the next step: how to get rid of our excess body fat?
In humans, as well as in animals, fat serves to store a large amount of energy for later use. Fat also contributes to the body’s thermal regulation by producing heat.
In other words, to burn fat stored in the body you must expend energy. To do this, several options are available: increase your level of physical activity or raise your basal metabolic rate, that is, the energy required to keep the body alive by supporting organ function, breathing, cell repair, etc.
The good news is that there are foods that can increase basal metabolic rate and reduce fat storage; they are called fat-burning foods!
The different actions of fat-burning foods
Foods that stimulate lipolysis
Foods are called fat burners when they stimulate thermogenesis, that is, the body’s production of heat through an increase in cellular metabolism. This thermogenesis increases our energy expenditure by transforming fatty acid molecules present in fat cells to promote their breakdown.
Put simply, a fat-burning food is a food that stimulates the dissolution of fats in the body – or lipolysis. Among these foods are notably tea and coffee.
Appetite-suppressing foods
Although they do not strictly speaking act on the dissolution of fats in the body, some foods are nevertheless considered fat burners because of their effect on satiety.
Rich in natural fiber, fats, or proteins, they help regulate appetite and reduce the urge to snack. Among these satiating foods, the apple, loaded with pectins, is certainly the best known!
Foods that stimulate intestinal transit
Finally, it also happens that foods that capture fats and help eliminate them, such as eggplant or green vegetables in general, are included on the list of fat burners. Rich in fiber, they stimulate intestinal transit and therefore help the body avoid storing fat.
How to integrate fat-burning foods into our diet?
Eating fat-burning foods can help us lose weight because they promote the body’s natural fat burning.
But if you truly want to get back in shape, their consumption should be part of a balanced diet, rich in fruits and vegetables, dietary fiber, lean proteins and quality fats, combined with regular physical activity.
