Weight Loss Programs

Moderate-intensity aerobic exercise such as brisk walking or jogging was once thought to be the best way to burn fat. But you don’t need to spend an hour at the gym working out on a treadmill or elliptical machine to trim fat off your thighs and tummy. In fact, you can burn fat and give your cardiovascular system a workout without walking or running at all – and you can do it without spending hours at the gym.

The key is to activate type 2 muscle fiber, also known as the fast-twitch muscle fibers. These muscle fibers are more metabolically active than slow-twitch fibers activated during long-distance aerobics. Activating these muscle fibers boosts levels of fat-burning hormones that create an afterburn effect. This means you burn more calories for hours after your workout. Here are three types of fat-burning exercises that don’t involve aerobics.

Plyometrics

Plyometrics are moves that stretch the muscles and contact them quickly with force and power. Some examples are jump squats where you squat and use the strength of your lower body to propel yourself into the air with force.

Another example is the “burpee.” To do this exercise, bend down, place your hands on the floor and throw your legs behind you into a plank position. Then quickly bring your legs back to the squat position and assume a standing position again. Jumping on and off a platform using two feet is another plyometric variation. These exercises are usually done for 30 seconds followed by a minute of rest and then repeated.

There are a variety of ways to do plyometrics, but what they all have in common is they cause muscles to contract with force, and they build power. They also activate type 2 muscle fibers, which turns you into a fat-burning machine. With plyometric exercises, you can get a muscle-strengthening, fat-burning workout in 20 minutes. No walking or jogging required.

Resistance Training

Resistance training using weight machines, hand weights, resistance bands or your own body weight is one of the best ways to activate fast-twitch muscle fibers. Resistance exercises also boost the production of fat-burning hormones and give you the afterburn effect.

To burn the most fat and calories during a resistance workout, focus on the larger muscle groups in the lower body. Squats holding a barbell on your shoulders are one of the best exercises for burning fat and increasing lower body strength. It also builds beautifully rounded glutes.

Lunges holding weights, push-ups and pull-ups are other resistance exercises that get the heart rate up and burn significant calories. Resistance training has other longer term fat-burning benefits. When you build lean body mass, you burn more calories even at rest since muscle tissue is more metabolically active.

High-Intensity Interval Training

If you don’t have a lot of time to spend working out, and you don’t mind sucking wind, high-intensity interval training is one of the best fat-burning exercises you can do. High-intensity interval training involves working out at a very high intensity for 30 seconds followed by a minute of active recovery. You can do this on any machine or on a track. If you do it on a track, walk for one minute and then break into an all-out sprint for 60 seconds. Follow this with a one minute walking recovery.

You can also do intervals on an indoor cycle, elliptical machine or treadmill. Work out at your maximal capacity for thirty seconds and then recover for one minute and repeat. With this type of intense workout, you only need 20 minutes to burn fat for hours afterwards. Twenty minutes of high-intensity intervals beats out an hour of jogging when it comes to fat burning. But be forewarned. It’s a tough workout that challenges your cardiovascular system and your will. Make sure you’re in good health before trying it.

The Bottom Line?

You don’t need to work out for an hour on the treadmill. Try these three fat-burning exercises instead. They’re not only challenging but a good way to get a calorie-burning workout in a short period of time.

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High blood pressure is a curse of modern life. The stresses of living in a fast paced environment combined with age has many looking for methods to reduce the worry and fear they live under. While doctors are more likely to pay some lip service to the need for diet and exercise, the truth is that a natural approach does work in the majority of cases.

Quick fix solutions promise instant relief, but to establish normal blood pressure levels naturally requires taking an active approach to the problem other than a subscription. High blood pressure is the result of a lifestyle that promotes it. Once you discover those factors leading to high blood pressure, you can reduce or even eliminate the need for drugs.

Weight Loss:

Obesity is one of the major factors for hypertension. If your body mass index (BMI) is over 25, you are considered overweight. And if your BMI measures over 30, you are obese and need to take an aggressive approach to shedding the extra pounds. Weight loss doesn’t come easy, but shedding just 10% of weight can help avoid the heart disease and diabetes that are the hallmarks of the overweight.

Physical Activity:

Overweight people don’t get enough exercise. Any kind of activity from aerobics, strength training or even walking helps oxygenate the blood and improve circulation. Moderate exercise of just 30 minutes a day can help lower your blood pressure by as much as 10 points. Good exercises include: — walking, jogging or running — swimming — dancing — biking — any aerobic exercise like using treadmills, elliptical trainers and rowing machines

A Healthy Diet:

If you’re chowing down high fat and high carbohydrate foods, you are not likely to have any energy to get you through a busy work day let alone an exercise program. Your diet should consist of fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, nits and seeds. The Mediterranean diet is the healthiest way to lose weight and avoid hypertension.

Cut Out Bad Habits:

Throughout life everyone develops habits that make efficient use of time or lead to severe health problems down the road. Bad habits take a toll on health. Any of these habits can affect blood pressure:

Smoking
Excessive alcohol consumption
Lack of adequate sleep
Inability to relax
Inappropriate use of drugs

The Environmental Impact:

There’s little you can do to cut down on industrial pollutants and the toxins you are exposed to on a daily basis. Food and water supplies are tainted with chemicals and even radioactivity if you live close to nuclear power plants. The standard cleaners you use to keep a clean home come with chemicals that add up to the toxins inside your home. Food additives in meats and commercial foods can play a role in elevating your blood pressure levels.

While you can’t live a Neanderthal lifestyle, you can take steps to reduce your exposure to environmental toxins. Reducing and maintaining normal blood pressure levels requires taking an active approach. Rather than rely exclusively on your doctor to keep you healthy, you should take control of your life so you don’t have to suffer the symptoms of high blood pressure that so many live with today.

Cinergy Health & Life Insurance Agency is dedicated to providing quality health and life insurance plans for people in a variety of life situations. For more information on a selection of health and insurance topics, visit http://www.cinergyhealth.com.

A healthy and successful diet does not prevent you from eating any of your favorite foods, including fried chicken wings, fast foods or simple carbohydrates. It does, however, require you to limit how much of these foods you eat or how often you eat them. Limit your intake of foods linked to negative health effects and containing very few nutrients as they increase the difficulty of losing weight.

Fats:

Your body needs fats to function properly. However, foods containing a lot of fat typically contain more calories per serving than low-fat versions. The American Heart Association recommends limiting your total fat intake to less than 35 percent of your total calorie intake, your saturated fat intake to less than 7 percent of your total calorie intake and your trans fat to less than 1 percent of your total calorie intake. Avoid foods such as fast food, beef, full-fat dairy products, fried foods and most processed foods. Replace these food options with healthier choices like baked or grilled chicken, fish, fresh produce, nuts, seeds or beans.

Sodium:

Foods containing a lot of sodium contribute to high blood pressure and fluid retention. “Fluid retention may decrease your weight loss efforts or make you gain weight,” explains Dr. Michael Hall, a family physician for DuBois Regional Medical Center, in DuBois, Pennsylvania. Just because a food contains relatively few calories, it doesn’t mean it’s good for you. Read nutrition labels and track your sodium intake. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans produced by the US Department of Agriculture recommend keeping your sodium intake below 1,500 mg each day if you are over age 51 or have heart disease and below 2,300 mg each day for most healthy adults. Foods high in sodium included boxed dinners, boxed crackers, chips, canned vegetables, soups and most other packaged foods. Avoid adding sodium to food by replacing table salt with fresh herbs and spices.

High-Calorie Drinks:

Drinks containing large amounts of calories, such as soda, milkshakes, energy drinks, fruit flavored drinks and sports drinks, often add empty calories to your diet. Replace these drinks with healthier and lower calorie options, such as water, water with a piece of fruit in it, water flavored with a splash of juice or low-fat milk. Avoid diet drinks sweetened with artificial sugars. Barbara M. Mendez, a nutritional consultant and registered pharmacist based in New York, New York, states, “Artificial sweeteners slow your metabolism by confusing the feedback loop consisting of your stomach, brain and hormones.” When you eat something sweet, you body expects calories. However, when it does not get calories it cannot gauge the number of calories to expect when you eat. As a result, the metabolism slows to ensure your body has enough calories to function properly.

White Grains:

Grains provide your body with carbohydrates, a form of energy your body can use easily. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that you consume mostly carbohydrates in the form of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans and peas. White grains, such as those found in white pasta, white bread and white rice, have less nutrients and digest faster than foods containing 100 percent whole grains and have a high fiber content, advises Hall. Whole grains keep you feeling fuller longer decrease your chances of overeating or having sweet cravings.

A healthy diet is really about moderation and balance. No gimmicks required.

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Alzheimer’s has more to do with poor lifestyle habits than can be blamed on age or heredity. Age increases the risk of macular degeneration, stroke, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. However, age is too often used as an excuse to remove the responsibility to take health matters in hand to prevent those age related diseases.

There are centenarians who show no symptoms of mental problems. Good genes simply can’t be responsible for their exceptional health.

Today’s lifestyle habits have a lot to do with how we age and how vulnerable we become to the ravages of disease. The kind of food consumed today plays a large part in the development of mental disorders. Today’s food is laced with chemicals the body and brain cannot handle. Those toxins accumulate in the body’s fat stores and eventually begin to produce the diseases so common today.

Studies have shown that the brain, like the pancreas, produces it’s own insulin. When there’s not enough insulin, the receptors in the brain begin to malfunction. Those suffering from Alzheimer’s often have insulin abnormalities, much like that of diabetics. Some medical circles label this lack of insulin as Type 3 diabetes. Whatever the label, it’s clear that abnormal blood sugar levels do lead to deterioration of the brain. Diabetics have a 65% increased risk of suffering from Alzheimer’s.

The food pyramid exhorts everyone to eat whole grains. Yet whole grains rate high on the glycemic index. A high glycemic rating creates a rapid rise in glucose levels in the bloodstream. The pancreas is forced to produce the insulin necessary to move the excess glucose into the body’s cells where glucose can be stored and used for energy. Unfortunately, cereals, breads and pastas all lead to a higher rise in blood sugar than fruits and vegetables alone.

According to the glycemic index, whole wheat bread scores a high 80, twice that of ice cream or even peaches. Consumption of high glycemic foods increase obesity and accelerate the aging process. Ultimately, this increases the risk of Alzheimer’s and other mental disorders.

Everyone is encouraged to eat a low fat, high carbohydrate diet for good health. Yet such a diet is more likely to add more weight. Fat is looked upon as evil with no distinction between healthy fats like olive oil and saturated fats like margarine that make up a great portion of many diets today. Cooking oils and the foods we eat contain a great deal of omega-6 oils and less of the more healthy omega-3 that made up a great portion of the diets of our ancestors. A healthy balance should mean twice as much of omega-3 to omega-6.

Consuming fish oil is one of the healthiest ways to avoid mental deterioration. But few people eat any fish let alone supplement with fish oil. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for good brain health. Omega-3 is abundant in oily fish like sardines, salmon and mackerel. It can be found in grass fed beef, eggs, walnuts and flax seed.

Children who supplement with fish oil have better memory retention and a better attention rates in school. Omega-3 increases the chemicals that stimulate the growth of nerve fibers in the brain.

Maintaining good mental functioning requires less consumption of grains and more of fresh fruits, vegetables and fish. A diet of these healthy foods is more likely to prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s and ensure a happy and healthier life no matter what the age.

Cinergy Health & Life Insurance Agency is dedicated to providing quality health and life insurance plans for people in a variety of life situations. For more information on a selection of health and insurance topics, visit http://www.cinergyhealth.com.

The simple act of venturing out into nature can have a rejuvenating effect upon our bodies and minds. There is something within all of us that resonates with the living world and is nourished by it. Fresh air, and the proximity of trees and birds and other living things, calls forth our own innate vitality and wildness. We can utilize this when we exercise, when we push our bodies towards greater and greater accomplishments. As we feel the results of our efforts, this can inspire us to continue. A high percentage of people who enroll in gyms and health clubs cancel their memberships within the first few months. The uniform appearance and routine approach of indoor workouts can’t compete with the diversity of experience and challenge that we can encounter outdoors in the natural world.

The inside of a gym can look pretty dull and unimaginative. Although it can be convenient to have all that ready-made resistance right there for your muscles to work against, the truth is that even the most inventive routines can quickly grow stale when you’re reliant upon machines. The result, more often than not, is that your mind gets bored and your physical progress reaches a plateau. Our muscles quickly grow accustomed to gym equipment and learn to perform the necessary movements with the least expenditure of energy. In short, they stop being challenged in ways that would force them to grow stronger and more flexible and resilient. The outdoors, on the other hand, offers nearly endless challenges to spur our bodies to ever-higher levels of energy, strength, and endurance.

The variety of terrain that we encounter outdoors keeps our bodies and minds constantly engaged. Moving from level ground to steep upwards and downwards slopes – at any pace from a walk to a brisk run – reaches muscles that we seldom use whilst simultaneously increasing our heart rate and respiration. At the same time, the changing scenery with its multitude of colors, sounds, and scents keeps our thoughts and imagination involved with the activity. This, in turn, can motivate us to keep striving.

The opportunities for exerting ourselves outdoors are so various and ever-changing that our bodies don’t have much of a chance to become acclimated and complacent. Our muscles, and our cardio-vascular systems, are constantly called upon to respond to new situations. This is the essence of what increases muscular strength and flexibility as well as lung capacity.

Our culture encourages us to spend an inordinate amount of time inside. One consequence of this sort of lifestyle is that we are denied such simple, essential elements of health as fresh air and sunshine. Making a resolution to exercise outdoors can afford us more of both of these things. The amount of sun exposure we receive impacts not only our physical health but also our emotional and mental well-being. We can literally cultivate a “sunnier disposition” if we get out and catch come rays for at least a half an hour a day.

Getting outdoors to exercise can profoundly impact our overall mood and energy level, and also stimulate our bodies to continue to improve long after we may have hit a plateau with more predictable indoor workouts. At the same time, being outdoors exposes us to all the natural elements that, in and of themselves, contribute to health and a positive mental outlook.

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When you’ve gone down with a sickness and are looking for a fast recovery, some foods are better than others to consume. In general, vitamin C and other nutrients are very important for the immune system; you should also cut down on empty calories, chemical additives to food, and anything that requires a difficult digestion that will sap the energy you’d otherwise use in healing yourself. Here are 7 scientifically proven foods to help sickness recovery.

Oranges:

Oranges have a very large amount of vitamin C as well as other vitamins and minerals and are a supremely healthy food. You can squeeze them and drink their juice for extra digestibility, which is especially good for when you can’t hold down solid foods.

Avocadoes:

Avocadoes have a very large amount of potassium and fibre, and are anti-inflammatory and very soothing to the stomach. Many people find that when they can’t hold down any other foods, an avocado helps reduce their digestive upset. They are also very easily digestible, spending only 45 minutes in the stomach, and are alkaline-forming, allowing the blood to return to a healthy level of acidity after a disturbance. Don’t overdo them though, as avocadoes are high in fat. Carbohydrates are the easiest source of energy for your body to assimilate, so focus on them for the period of your sickness.

White Rice:

Although it’s generally preferable to avoid anything refined, sometimes when you have a stomach upset white rice can be a useful food as it’s easily digestible and very gentle on the digestive system. Rice in general has long been toted as a health food and is the staple of long lived Eastern cultures.

Chamomile Tea:

It’s very important to drink a lot of liquids when you have a sickness, especially colds and flus, as they will help you clear your body out of toxins and replace water loss from sweating if you have a fever.

Chamomile tea is an excellent drink. Black and green tea are both irritants and contain mild toxins, but chamomile tea is very mild. As well as having a relaxing fragrance that helps release tension and promotes healing, chamomile is anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic. A study in Germany recently showed that it is anti-microbial as well, and could be a help in treating internal infections.

Sweet Potato:

The sweet potato is one of the healthiest foods around and is a powerful helper in sickness recovery. In general tubers are easier sources of carbohydrates to digest than grains as they lack digestion inhibitors; but sweet potatoes in particular have very high levels of nutrients and relatively low calories. They are extremely high in vitamin A, and are good sources of vitamin C, manganese, copper, fibre and vitamin B6.

Garlic:

Studies show that people who eat a lot of garlic have less incidence of colds and flus compared to those who don’t. Garlic is both an antibiotic and a stimulant for the immune system.

Ginger:

Ginger is a healthy stimulant and has antiviral properties. It also helps reduce the symptoms of colds and flus.

Conclusion:

When dealing with sickness recovery, take lots of liquids and eat natural, easy to digest, unprocessed foods. Take special care to look after your health, you are worth it!

Cinergy Health & Life Insurance Agency is dedicated to providing quality health and life insurance plans for people in a variety of life situations. For more information on a selection of health and insurance topics, visit http://www.cinergyhealth.com.

Does everything you eat or drink go directly to your hips? It may not have been that way when you were in your teens or twenties, but once you reached the ripe old age of 35, you soon discovered you could no longer munch out on chips and pizza and not gain a pound. As your age and muscle mass declines, so does your metabolism. But all is not lost. There are natural ways to boost your metabolism. How about sipping some of these metabolism-boosting teas?

To keep things in perspective, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to eat everything you want and burn it off by sipping tea, no matter how much you drink. But some types of tea can modestly boost metabolism. It may not replace a workout at the gym, but it’s one more tool in your arsenal to fight fat. What are the best metabolism-boosting teas?

Green Tea:

There’s science behind the metabolism boosting benefits of green tea. According to a small study published in the Journal of Nutrition, drinking as little as two cups of green tea a day can boost fat loss in the tummy area. But there’s one caveat. The volunteers in this study did three hours of exercise each week. Green tea and exercise may be a powerful combination for melting away tummy fat.

Other studies also point to the metabolism-boosting potential of green tea, although the effects are modest. Drinking a minimum of four cups of green tea burns on average an additional 85 calories. It may not sound like much, but that’s an extra pound of fat-loss every 40 days. That adds up! What’s so magical about green tea? Research suggests it’s the catechins in green tea, possibly in combination with caffeine, that speed up fat-burning.

Yerba Mate:

Green tea isn’t the only metabolism-boosting tea. Yerba mate, an herbal tea that comes from a tree native to the South American rain forest, is rich in xanthines, compounds that boost metabolism and fat-loss. Xanthines are mild stimulants. In fact, caffeine is classified as a xanthine. Yerba mate has recently started to catch on in the United States, so expect to see more of this metabolism-boosting tea on store shelves in the future.

Oolong Tea:

Oolong tea is often dubbed “the metabolic tea” because of its metabolism-boosting potential. Less oxidized than black tea, but more oxidized than green, oolong tea has fewer catechins than green tea but significantly more than black. It also contains caffeine, which in combination with catechins, helps to ignite your body’s fat-burning furnace. Oolong tea is a good metabolism-boosting tea for people who prefer the more robust flavor of black tea to green tea – but still want the benefits of additional metabolism-boosting catechins.

The Benefits of Sipping Metabolism-Boosting Tea:

Drinking metabolism-boosting teas can aid fat loss in several ways. They modestly boost metabolism, while, at the same time, offering other health benefits. In addition, they’re calorie-free as long as you drink them unsweetened or with a zero-calorie sweetener. Imagine the calories you’ll save if you replace soft drinks with tea. So, put away those high-calorie beverages and sip tea instead. It’s a waistline-friendly alternative.

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Zinc supplements became popular after some studies showed they can reduce the length and severity of the common cold. But zinc does so much more than fight respiratory viruses; it’s involved in over 100 different reactions in the body. What is the importance of zinc, and how much do you need in your diet?

Benefits of Zinc: It’s a Very Active Mineral in the Body

Zinc is found in every tissue in the body, and the list of bodily activities that zinc is involved with is numerous. One of its most important functions of zinc is to keep the immune system healthy. This may account for its ability to keep cold symptoms at bay, although research in this area hasn’t been conclusive. It’s also important for bone growth and mineralization, wound healing, fertility and is intimately involved in the sense of taste and smell. Some research even suggests that getting enough dietary zinc is important for warding off type 2 diabetes.

Zinc supplements are sometimes touted as a way to increase sexual desire and stamina for men. Although zinc is involved in sperm production, the exact role it plays in sexual function is poorly understood. It does play a role in regulating testosterone production, and low testosterone levels are linked with lack of sexual desire, which may explain why it boosts libido.

One study showed that men who ate a diet low in zinc had lower muscle strength and endurance than men who ate a diet high in this mineral. So, zinc may be a particularly important vitamin for men. Research is also looking at the role it may play in reducing the risk of prostate cancer, one of the most common cancers in men.

The Importance of Zinc: Who Needs a Supplement?

With zinc playing such an important role in the body, you may wonder whether you’re getting enough of it. Most people get enough zinc in their diet to avoid a deficiency, but up to 30% of people may not be getting optimal amounts. Since zinc is found in greater amounts in animal products, vegetarians may be at risk of having inadequate zinc levels. People at both ends of the age spectrum, the young and the old, are also more likely to have sub-optimal zinc levels.

How much zinc do you need in your diet daily? Adult males should get 11 milligrams per day, while non-pregnant women need 8 milligrams per day. A zinc supplement may be appropriate if you’re unable to get adequate amounts through diet, but supplementing with zinc reduces absorption of copper, which can lead to anemia and problems involving the nervous system. It can also reduce absorption of calcium.

To get the health benefits of zinc without taking a supplement, add more zinc-rich foods to your diet. The best sources of zinc are oysters, beef, pork, chicken, lamb, dark-meat turkey, wheat germ, pecans, chickpeas and pumpkin seeds. If you eat a vegetarian diet, talk to your doctor about taking a zinc supplement.

The Benefits of Zinc Are Many:

Zinc has important tasks to fulfill in the body, which is why it’s important to get enough of this mineral, but taking a zinc supplement isn’t for everyone since it can affect absorption of other minerals. Talk to your doctor about whether taking zinc is right for you.

Cinergy Health & Life Insurance Agency is dedicated to providing quality health and life insurance plans for people in a variety of life situations. For more information on a selection of health and insurance topics, visit http://www.cinergyhealth.com.

The first step to getting on any exercise program is to dispel the belief that it must be intense to have any real benefit. A gym membership is not necessary and few people have the desire to appear in a gym room with their blubber on public display.

Exercise is a foreign concept for many people. They may want to get into shape but they don’t know where to start. The fear of failure keeps many from trying. But once you lower your expectations, you can make a start and succeed more often than fail.

Get a Doctor’s Opinion:

Before any exercise can begin, you need to know the state of your current health. Any exercise has the potential to be harmful so it’s best to get your doctor’s opinion so you can lay the foundation to get started. Your age, your weight and whether you have blood pressure or suffer from diabetes are factors that need to be considered before you lift your first dumbbell. A dietitian can help you with the right foods to give you the energy for your workouts, while a fitness instructor can help get you started on your first routines.

Walking is the Best Exercise:

If you can’t afford an instructor, start off with walking. It’s the easiest exercise and doesn’t require any equipment other than a good pair of running shoes. Walking is flexible. You can start off slow and build up as you gain more strength and stamina.

Exercise in the Pool:

It’s a great form of exercise for those who are obese or suffer from mobility problems. Arthritics and the elderly get the most benefit from pool exercise. The buoyancy of the water eases the stress placed on ankles and knees. Exercising with a group is more fun and helps provide you with the incentive to stick to your routine as you receive encouragement.

Sit Down Exercises:

These exercises can easily be incorporated both at home and at work. Arm and leg lifts are great ways to build strength and can be done anywhere. Exercise while watching television,or work out in your office cubicle. Light back and knee bends will strengthen those muscles that often don’t get much use. You can purchase a portable peddlar and strengthen your legs while typing out a memo.

Use Light Weights for Strength Training:

Lifting weights is a good way to strengthen unused muscles by increasing resistance. But start off first by warming up by lifting your arms before you use your first set of 3 pound weights. Weights can be brought to work.

Getting fit takes time, but there’s no reason why you can’t make a start. Forget about stationary bikes and treadmills. As you get fitter, you can incorporate fitness equipment into your exercise routine. The most important thing is to stick to your routine. It’s easy to forget about exercising, so you’ll need to employ some discipline. But once you start seeing results, you’ll be more motivated to exercise more until you won’t be ashamed to show your new body inside a gym.

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There isn’t really any such thing as a ‘negative’ calorie food. Water contains no calories at all, but that still isn’t negative.

The foods on the negative calorie foods list do have a caloric content. However, when you take into account the thermic effects that mean you will expend more energy just digesting those foods than you consume, the result is a net loss in calories.

For example, you could eat a stick of raw celery that contains 5 calories, but you would be using far more calories than this just to generate the power your body needs to chew and digest it.

How The Thermic Effect of Food Works:

The thermic effect of food is one of the three primary areas of the metabolic rate that can be affected by what you eat. The other two areas of your metabolic rate are your resting metabolic rate and your level of physical activity.

When you look up the meaning of “thermic effect of food”, you’re told that it is the increment in energy expenditure above resting metabolic rate due to the cost of processing food for storage and use.

This sounds very stiff and formal and doesn’t really make it clear what it means to your weight loss efforts.

Effectively, it means that approximately 10% of the calories you eat are used by your body to generate enough energy just to process and digest that food. It also means you could potentially find some foods that use more thermic energy than you intake.

In more common terms, these foods are known to have ‘negative caloric balance’, which simply means they take more energy to digest than they provide in usable energy. The presumption here is that the thermic effect will be greater than the calorie content.

Keep in mind that the thermic effect of different foods may vary from person to person, depending on their insulin sensitivity.

Things to Remember About Negative Calorie Foods:

Unfortunately, many people read that they can lose weight just by eating certain foods and they immediately try to limit their entire daily intake to just these foods. They seem to believe they’ll be losing more weight this way.

What they don’t realize is that by limiting their daily intake to only foods on the negative calorie foods list, they could also be losing muscle tone and reducing their metabolic rate. A sluggish metabolism makes it even harder for anyone to lose weight.

Instead, try to mix and match some of the foods on the list below with good quality lean protein sources to help control your appetite. You’ll also be keeping your level of amino acids derived from protein stable and maintaining your metabolic rate instead of slowing it down.

It should come as no surprise that the list of negative calorie foods is made up entirely of healthy vegetables and fruits. These all contain high levels of beneficial nutrients, vitamins and minerals, as well as good fiber content.

The fiber content in these foods is what makes your body work a little harder to process them. Yet it’s the nutrient value and low calorie content that helps to make it so easy to lose weight.

List of Negative Calorie Foods:

Negative Calorie Vegetables:

- Asparagus

- Beetroot

- Broccoli

- Cabbage

- Capsicum (Red Peppers)

- Carrot

- Cauliflower

- Celery

- Chicory

- Eggplant (Aubergine)

- Hot Chili

- Cucumber

- Garlic

- Green beans

- Lettuce

- Onion

- Radish

- Spinach

- Turnip

- Watercress

- Zucchini

Negative Calorie Fruits:

- Apple

- Apricot

- Blackberry

- Blueberries

- Cantaloupe (rock melon)

- Cranberry

- Grapefruit

- Guava

- Honeydew melon

- Lemon

- Lime

- Mango

- Mulberries

- Orange

- Papaya

- Peach

- Pineapple

- Plum

- Raspberry

- Rhubarb

- Strawberry

- Tomato

- Tangerine

- Turnip

- Watermelon

It’s important to remember that you should still eat a balanced diet consisting of good quality lean protein and some carbohydrates in order to maintain good health. Try to add some of these base ingredients into your meals and recipes and you could find that losing weight just got a little easier.

Cinergy Health & Life Insurance Agency is dedicated to providing quality health and life insurance plans for people in a variety of life situations. For more information on a selection of health and insurance topics, visit http://www.cinergyhealth.com.