Can there really be such a thing as fat burning foods? Food that literally melts the fat on your hips sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
Nonetheless, one hears and reads again and again about foods that you lose weight when you eat them. This is why I will deal with this myth in this article. So that you understand what is really true, I will explain to you below
- Where does the myth of fat burning foods come from
- What really fat burning foods should make up
- Which 5 foods this really applies to
Where does the myth of “fat burning foods” come from?
Almost everyone who has a problem is looking for the simplest possible solution. This means that on the other hand, possible solutions are always presented as simply as possible in order to make them easy to consume / sell.
The need to find tricks and abbreviations means that things are often deliberately or unconsciously over- or incorrectly interpreted. This means that very small effects are shown completely exaggerated.
For example, pineapple, grapefruit or papaya suddenly become foods with a perceived negative energy balance because of their (possibly) digestive and / or fat burning promoting enzymes, although the effect is by far not as great as it is could compensate for the calories in.
It is sometimes taken even further when eggs or nuts are referred to as fat-burning foods because they can have a positive effect on eating behavior and nutrient supply in a diet.
Nuts and eggs can definitely be useful foods in a diet, but you shouldn’t lose sight of the calories because that’s what really matters if you want to lose weight.
What constitutes fat-burning foods
Does that mean that there is no such thing as fat-burning foods?
Strictly speaking, such foods should have a negative calorie balance. The ingestion should lead to the fact that you burn more calories than you ate from eating / drinking.
So the question is what is defined as food. If we take the Wikipedia definition, a food, unlike a food, does not necessarily have to contain usable macronutrients. So I would say that there are a handful of foods that could be described as fat burning foods.
Still, it is quite difficult to find really fat burning foods.
Really fat burning foods
After some thought and research, I found 5 (strictly speaking only 4) foods to which this definition really applies. I would like to briefly introduce these to you below.
Coffee
Coffee wrongly has a bad reputation. In small amounts, there is even some evidence that it can have a positive effect on concentration and health. Of course, the quality of the coffee is also important here.
It has been proven that coffee leads to a slight acceleration of the metabolism and thus an increase in calorie consumption. Unfortunately, with high doses, the body quickly gets used to the increased effect and possible side effects let me advise you not to overdo it with coffee in order to lose weight faster.
Since coffee has practically no calories and leads to an (albeit small and short-term) acceleration of the metabolism, this qualifies it as a fat-burning food. Of course you have to drink the coffee black for this. With a cappuccino, the additional calories from the milk already outweigh the effect.
I have to admit that I am not much of a coffee connoisseur myself and I only drink coffee at work … or when I am in Vienna but that is a different story!
Personally, I prefer the following hot drink:
Green tea
Green tea has an invigorating effect and has been shown to boost the metabolism. For this reason, I also consider green tea extract to be one of the few useful ingredients of so-called fat burners , which I otherwise largely consider a waste of money.
There is also evidence that the tannins contained in green tea can reduce the storage of fat in the body. There are actually some promising studies on this. Here, too, of course, no huge effect is to be expected.
It is crucial, however, that unsweetened green tea contains virtually no calories. Even a small positive effect on fat burning makes green tea a real fat-burning food. In addition, due to its antioxidant properties, green tea has a reputation for having a positive effect on general health.
When it comes to green tea, good quality is always important. That is why I usually order the hand-picked organic Sencha green tea from Biotiva *. The price-performance ratio is simply unbeatable.
Cold water
In order to increase the temperature of one liter of water by one degree Celsius, an energy expenditure of about one kilocalorie is necessary. This means that if you drink a liter of water at a temperature of 10 ° C, your body will use approx. 26 kcal to warm it up to body temperature (36 ° C). While that’s not very much, water has no calories. Strictly speaking, however, makes this a fat burning food.
There are many more good reasons ( to drink cold) water!
Since most people drink too little anyway, it makes double sense to start at this point. Therefore, be sure to drink your 3 liters of water a day, regardless of whether you want to lose weight or not!
Ice
I don’t mean ice cream by that. I mean frozen water. The fact is: the greater the temperature difference that the body has to overcome, the greater the energy consumption.
That’s why I only announced 4 foods above. But you will immediately see why it turned out to be 5 anyway:
No ice cream does not mean that you cannot get a delicious ice cream with negative calories. Especially in summer, when temperatures are high, you can conjure up a delicious water ice cream that has practically no calories with a little taste such as the Bolero Instant Drinks Powder *. Strictly speaking, this ice cream actually has negative calories because the body has to use energy to warm it up to body temperature. Definitely a great alternative for the summer.
Chili
Chilli pods or chilli powder have virtually no calories in edible quantities. However, the capsaicin contained in it is said to stimulate digestion and fat burning. The second is probably mainly due to the development of additional body heat resulting from ingestion.
The effect doesn’t seem to be particularly great, but it is enough to include chilli in this list.
That’s about it for the really fat burning foods I could find. If you know or find anything that belongs on this list, feel free to write it to me in the comments and I’ll add it.
Conclusion
I think it is good to look into which foods can help you lose weight. After all, there are definitely things that you should eat more than others in a diet. However, you shouldn’t rely on any miracle drugs to work. This also includes so-called fat-burning foods.
Do not try to find the easiest way possible by bending and breaking, but go the path that has been proven several times that it can lead you to success:
And of course make sure that you are regularly in a calorie deficit!