Foods that will actually burn calories.

You burn calories in three ways: by just living and breathing, through physical activity, and by eating and digesting food. While physical activity is normally emphasized as the best way to burn calories, eating certain foods can actually aid in the process. You may be surprised to hear this and ask yourself, “Don’t all foods contain calories? How can eating food help me lose weight? Which foods should be my new favorites?”

Here’s how it works.

When you eat a meal, your body gets to work, digesting and absorbing the food to be used for energy. This process, known as thermogenesis, produces heat. Thermogenesis requires energy, raises your metabolism, and burns calories. Certain foods, known as natural calorie burners, generate more heat than others and therefore require more energy to digest. Some foods are known as negative calorie foods, meaning they take more calories to digest than they actually contain.

So if you want to increase your metabolism and lose weight without depriving yourself, you may want to incorporate these heat-generating foods into your diet.

Foods that Burn Fat

When it comes to thermogenic foods, low-calorie, high-fiber foods and proteins rank the highest; fats rank the lowest; and fruits and veggies are somewhere in the middle.

Whole-Grains: Foods high in fiber take the body longer to digest, resulting in a slow release of calories. A slow supply of calories enables your body to quickly burn them rather than store them as fat. Instead of eating pasta, bread, and cereal made with refined white flour, choose whole-grain options that provide complex carbs and the fiber needed to rev up your metabolism. Go with bran flakes instead of a bagel, whole wheat bread over white bread, and whole-grain pasta – not the regular pasta you’ve been eating all these years.

Protein and Dairy: You can also give your metabolism a boost with foods high in protein. The more protein you eat, the harder your body works to digest it. Meat, poultry, and fish are all great sources of protein. Just be sure to choose lean portions. Salmon, tuna, and other fatty fish are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which increase your metabolism and the rate at which you burn fat.
Additionally, the calcium found in milk and other dairy products works to activate your metabolism, keeps your insulin levels low, and burns calories as a result.

Fruits: All fruit are healthy, but those fruits that are especially high in vitamin C are powerhouses when it comes to burning fat. Vitamin C helps dilute fat and cholesterol. Some of the best are citrus fruits, such as oranges, grapefruits, lemons, and limes.

High-fiber fruits are also fat burners. Your body has to work hard to digest them, burning calories in the process. These fruits include apples, raspberries, and pears.

Vegetables: Like fruit, all veggies are good for you. When it comes to burning fat, choose veggies that are low in calories and filling at the same time. Examples include broccoli, cabbage, asparagus, green beans, cucumber, celery, cauliflower, and zucchini.

Spicy Foods: Spicy foods speed up your metabolism and increase your heart rate. You can burn calories quickly when you add foods and spices such as jalapenos, habaneros, hot chili peppers, red cayenne chiles, and cayenne pepper. Your mouth may feel like it just caught on fire, but the burned calories will be worth it, right?

Beverages: Both caffeine and the chemical epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) affect your metabolism. Caffeine speeds up your heart rate, helping you burn more calories. EGCG increases your brain and nervous system functioning, thus burning calories. Find these two chemicals in drinks such as coffee, black tea, and green tea. Keep in mind that adding sugar and creamer to your coffee or tea will lessen the fat-burning effects.