Foods to help you burn fat:
So what foods can you eat throughout the day to help you lose fat and gain muscle? Unfortunately this is a difficult question to ask. Foods don’t actually directly contribute to fat loss in the strict sense. However, what you eat can maximize your net fat loss throughout the day indirectly. How?
There will never be a point in time where you aren’t both losing fat and gaining fat. A person in a North Korean work camp eating 300 calories a day will be creating and enlarging some new fat cells. However, the North Korean prisoner’s body will be burning and losing fat at a much faster rate. Likewise, a couch potato consuming 10,000 calories a day will be burning some fat cells, they will just be enlarging and creating new fat cells at a much faster rate. So no matter what you do, you will always be losing some fat as well as gaining it. The goal is to lose more than you gain. So how does this relate to food? Different macronutrients (Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) contribute to fat gain in different ways thanks to the thermic effect of food(TEF). The TEF is the total amount of energy(calories) burned converting that specific food substance to bodily fat. If you consume a piece of pizza and your body decides to turn that pizza to fat, your body won’t be 100% efficient changing the breads, meats, and toppings into bodily fat due to the TEF. Consuming foods with a high TEF allows one to limit the fat that they add to their body while maximizing the fat they lose equaling a high net fat loss. So what foods to eat to maximize fat loss? Protein! Protein has an extremely high TEF, meaning your body cannot convert protein to bodily fat at an efficient rate. Dietary fat and carbohydrates have a much lower TEF, meaning a higher percentage of these foods can be converted to fat. Dieting? Trying to lose fat? Prioritize protein and watch the pounds drop.
-Ben Hack, Personal Trainer
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