Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Fat Burning Foods & Drinks

I ran across an article that listed the top 15 fat burning foods/drinks and decided to share them with everyone.

Grapefruit: Half a grapefruit prior to dinner can help fill you enough that you can resist second helpings. Also, the soluble fiber in grapefruit slows down the digestion process.

Watermelon: The water from watermelon invades the space that your stomach leaves open for food, thus making you less likely to pig out. Apples and pears produce a similar result, too.

Berries: Instead of a cookie, pop some blackberries or strawberries into your mouth. Frozen blueberries also provide the illusion of enjoying a cold, high-calorie treat.


Cucumber: Cucumber has very few calories and helps to stave off liver disease and pancreatic cancer, and even keeps your nails looking amazing due to the high mineral content.

Hot peppers: Although they haven’t been directly linked to weight loss, spicy habaneros or jalapeños aid in curbing the desire to gorge since we typically eat less when our food has a fiery flavor. Hot peppers also comprise the compound capsaicin, which speeds up the metabolism.

Celery: It satisfies the need to eat something, but it has virtually no calories (one cup of celery equals only nineteen calories. Tip: instead of adding cream cheese or peanut butter to the stalk, give fat-free cottage cheese or fat-free black bean dip.


Greek yogurt: Greek yogurt keeps you satisfied longer because all proteins take their sweet time leaving your stomach.

Eggs: Start the day off right with seven grams of protein! Having an egg in the morning will keep your body busy because digesting eggs burns more calories than a carb-infested breakfast.

Fish: Full of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. Wild salmon, tuna, and sardines make your body more responsive to the fat-burning hormone leptin, which is responsible for suppressing your appetite? If you don't like fish, turkey can also help as it encourages the release of tryptophan, which helps you sleep. Remember: lack of sleep wreaks havoc on your waistline!


Green tea: Multiple studies have recommended green tea for when you’re trying to shed pounds because it can motivate the body to burn abdominal fat. Moreover, it is made up of a type of phytochemical called catechins, which can assist the metabolism.

Coffee: Its a metabolism booster.

Ice cold water: Drink eight to ten glasses of ice cold water a day to burn 250 to 500 calories! Your body goes into overdrive trying to heat the water back up to your normal body temperature.


Quinoa: A great substitute for rice because it is as simple to prepare and possesses the same oddly satisfying quality as rice. It has five grams of fiber per cup and eight grams of hunger-rejecting protein.

Oatmeal: Add cinnamon or nutmeg to give your fiber-rich hot cereal a dash of sweetness. A hot bowl of oatmeal will make you feel full and keep you hydrated.

Crispbreads: Whole grains, as opposed to refined grains, such as those found in rye crackers, are the key to keeping belly fat at bay.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Foods and Health Tips

A friend sent a list of foods that are supposed to help different alignments. Some of you may already know these, some of you may have already tried them. I personally had never heard of most of them and haven’t tried any. So here we go.

1. Head Aches – Eat plenty of fish. Fish oil helps prevent headaches. So does ginger which reduces inflammation and pain.

2. To help prevent strokes drink tea. It helps to prevent buildup of fatty deposits on artery walls. In some cases it even suppresses the appetite and green tea is good for the immune system.

3. Can’t Sleep? Use honey as a tranquilizer and sedative.

4. Asthma – Eat onions. They help ease constriction of bronchial tubes. Years ago mothers made onion packs to place on the chest to help respiratory ailments and make breathing easier.

5. Arthritis – Eat fish. Salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines help prevent arthritis. Fish has omega oils which are good for the immune system.

6. Upset Stomachs – Bananas will settle an upset stomach. Ginger will cure morning sickness and nausea.

7. Bladder Infections – Drink cranberry juice. It’s high-acid helps control harmful bacteria.

8. Bone Problems – Eat pineapple. Bone fractures and osteoporosis can be helped by the manganese in pineapple.

9. Memory Problems – Oysters – they help improve your mental functioning by supplying much needed zinc.

10. Colds – Eat garlic. It clears up a stuffy head and also helps with lowering cholesterol.

11. Coughing – Use red peppers. A substance similar to that found in cough syrups is found in hot red peppers such as cayenne. Just use with caution so you don’t irritate your stomach.

12. Breast Cancer – To lower your chance of breast cancer, eat wheat, bran and cabbage. These help the body maintain estrogen at a healthy level.

13. Ulcers – Again, cabbage. It contains chemicals that help heal both gastric and duodenal ulcers.

14. Diarrhea – Apples. Grate an apple with its skin, let it turn brown and eat it to cure diarrhea. Bananas are also good for this ailment.

15. Clogged Arteries – Eat Avocados. Mono unsaturated fat in avocados lowers cholesterol.

16. High Blood Pressure – Eat celery and Olive Oil. Both have been shown to lower blood pressure.

17. Blood Sugar Imbalance – Broccoli and peanuts. The chromium in broccoli and peanuts help regulate insulin and blood sugar.