Foods That Boost Your Metabolic Rate

Why is it that some foods that make you fat and others don’t? This because the foods that cause you to gain weight take very little energy to burn. They are processed almost immediately and usually stored in your body as fat. Foods that make you skinnier are usually foods are harder to digest and therefore speed up metabolism by using up more energy during the digestion.

The foods that speed up metabolism are considered “negative calorie foods”. Unfortunately these foods don’t possess any magical properties that erase the number of calories in your body (don’t we wish?) so the name can be a bit misleading, but they are still beneficial.

What really happens is that these foods make your body work harder while digesting them. Foods like this already possess a lower amount of calories to begin with but are also full of fibrous materials that the body cannot easily break down, therefore it uses more energy.

So the net result is your body uses more energy to convert that food into fuel (burns more calories) than the total amount of calories in the food to begin with. Therefore, there is a negative amount of calories. Essentially you have used enough energy to burn up the calories of the food you ate PLUS some more. Your body then uses stored fat as additional energy to complete the digestion process, thereby boosting up your metabolism.

Are you confused? Here is another example to explain what I mean.

Let’s say you eat half of a grapefruit that contains about 40 calories and it takes your body 90 calories to digest it. You have used all of the grapefruit’s 40 calories PLUS 50 additional calories from stored fat resulting in a net calorie loss.

In reality, for most of us, it usually works just the opposite way. We consume a rich fudge brownie that contains 180 calories but our body on uses 80 calories to digest it. We have essentially GAINED 100 calories which will be stored as fat for later use. That’s not a healthy thing. Unless you are exercising on a regular basis to burn up those calories, they are going to just sit there around your waistline adding to your already pudgy midsection.

So to get you started with negative calorie foods that speed up metabolism, I have created an extensive list consisting of mostly fruits and vegetables. Add these to your menu and you will begin to see and feel the natural changes in your body.

Salads are always a good choice. Create your own using lettuce, tomato, onion, carrots cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower and radish. Be sure not to load up on the salad dressing. You can add toppings like raisins or sunflower used in smaller quantities.

You can also try steamed vegetable as a side dish using items such as broccoli, carrots, onion, cauliflower, cabbage, asparagus, green beans, spinach and zucchini. You can flavor with garlic if you like.

A fruit cup is a refreshing choice. You can use strawberries, tangerine, papaya, grapefruit, cantaloupe, honeydew, apple slices, cranberries, mango, orange, pineapple, raspberries, and watermelon.

Smoothies are one of my favorites. You can use any combination of the fruits above mixed with ice or low fat frozen yogurt. Remember, you can also use these fruits in their juice form but fresh-squeezed is healthier than juice from concentrate.