Start cooking with these fat-destroying ingredients, and you’ll be losing weight before you know it.
Saffron
Saffron is a versatile spice that should be in every cook’s arsenal for its taste alone, but it could also help you with dropping those unwanted pounds. Saffron contains a compound that increases your body’s production of the ‘happy hormone’ serotonin, which also helps to regulate your appetite and make you feel full for longer.
Dark chocolate
Sweet tooths rejoice – chocolate can help you lose weight. Natural dark chocolate was investigated in a study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, and its high levels of antioxidants were found to lessen the build up of fat cells. There’s a couple of caveats of course – the chocolate needs to be dark, and contain no added sugar for the fat-blasting properties to work.
Fennel
Because of its unique taste that is often compared to licorice, fennel can help to do away with your cravings for sweet and unhealthy foods. Fennel seeds are great as well because they are a potent carminative, which means they regulate the expulsion of gas from your intestines and reduce bloating.
Cinnamon
A recent study published in Diabetes Care found that one of the best ways to balance blood sugar levels and lose weight is to opt for a dash of cinnamon. In the research, cinnamon was shown to improve response levels to insulin in the liver, which led to improved blood sugar balance and increased weight loss.
Coconut oil
Coconut oil is a fantastic weight loss tool because of its high levels of SMCFAs and MCFAs – short and medium-chain fatty acids. MCFAs in particular are easily digested, which means when they’re broken down in your liver they give you an instant energy boost and increase your metabolism. As an added bonus, the most abundant of these MCFAs, lauric acid, has been linked with a strengthened immune system and increased disease resistance.
White kidney beans
If you can’t stop wolfing down carbs, add some white kidney beans to your next meal. White kidney beans contain a natural enzyme inhibitor that helps to level out the blood sugar spikes caused by carbohydrate consumption. A study published in Obesity found that this lead to 74% of participants losing weight and maintaining their new weight for at least 6 months.
Green coffee beans
Before they go through the roasting process, coffee beans are known as ‘green’. Because of their high levels of chlorogenic acid (which is mostly burned away if the beans are roasted), green coffee beans were found to accelerate weight loss in a study at the University of Scranton, where the average participant lost 8kg and saw a 16% reduction in body fat. The taste isn’t anything to write home about, so you can also consider mixing green coffee bean extract with regular black coffee to enjoy the same benefits.
Vinegar
Slow things down the next time you eat by splashing some vinegar on your food. Swedish researchers discovered that when participants ate food with vinegar on their satiety levels were higher than those who ate plain food. It’s thought that the acetic acid in vinegar actually increases the amount of time it takes your food to move from your stomach to your intestine, so you’ll still feel full well after your meal.
Hemp seeds
Perfect sprinkled onto a salad or mixed into sauces, hemp seeds are a fantastic weight loss tool according to a study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry. That comes as no surprise when you consider hemp seeds are packed with protein and fibre to keep you feeling full, and have a slightly sweet taste to dull your cravings.
Turmeric
New research carried out at Tufts University claims that turmeric is useful for far more than spicing up curries. The study discovered that curcumin, one of the key compounds in turmeric, can speed up your metabolism and decrease body fat percentage. It’s thought that this is because curcumin stimulates the enzymes needed for fat oxidation.
Grapefruit
Say hello to the perfect weight loss appetiser. When eaten before meals, grapefruit was found to lead to 0.5kg of weight loss every week in a Californian study. Grapefruit is such a strong fat burner because it contains a compound that regulates insulin levels and prevents fat storage.
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