 |
You always hear about these fat-burning fads such as using red pepper in your meals or drinking green tea in order to burn fat and wonder if it is true? The truth is that any... |
You always hear about these fat-burning fads such as using red pepper in your meals or drinking green tea in order to burn fat and wonder if it is true? The truth is that any type of food can be a fat-burning food because eating is work for your body and your body will call upon your metabolism to help process and turn the food you’ve eaten into energy. Certain foods require more energy such as protein, which usually requires about 25% more energy in order to be digested. So in theory if you eat a high-protein snack it should rev up your metabolism a little more than say if you ate a carb-heavy snack with the same number of calories as the high-protein snack.
There are some studies that have shown an increase in metabolism by about 20% for a period of 30 minutes when hot pepper or very spicy foods are consumed, but in order for a significant change to take place regarding burning fat you would need an increased metabolic rate for longer than 30 minutes. Other studies show that red pepper does better when it is consumed along with a high-fat food. Still, another study showed that male athletes who ate red pepper along with high-carbohydrate foods boosted both their resting and active metabolic rates for 30 minutes after they finished eating. Again, this has not been proven to be a long enough time period to actually make any significant changes in the amount of fat that can be burned.
Green tea contains a substance known as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which is a powerful antioxidant, which some individuals say can have calorie-burning effect much like what is seen with the red pepper. A study showed that males who consumed 90 milligrams of EGCG along with 50 milligrams of caffeine with meals were able to boost their metabolisms over a 24 hour by 4%. Studies show that caffeine alone does not have the same effect on metabolism. It is not a certainty that this is enough to actually make an impact on weight loss.
The simple fact is that it isn’t so much what foods you eat, but when and how much of it you eat. Studies have shown that frequent smaller meals spaced not more than 3 hours apart can significantly increase metabolism. Studies also show that when you have more muscle fat you increase your metabolism. So, given these facts if you eat smaller meals and space them out every 3 hours and include adequate exercise along with this eating pattern, you will increase your metabolism and lose weight.