Foods That Burn Fat to Accelerate Your Weight Loss

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Beyond following one the best diets for weight loss, are there actually foods you can add to meals that help you cut fat? Surprisingly enough, yes. They’re not as powerful as people often hope, but they do offer a very small increase in your metabolic rate during exercise or as the result of the way they’re digested. And most of these foods are nutritious in other ways, too, particularly from the vitamins, minerals, protein or antioxidants they provide.

While the best way to lose excess fat is to eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly and get enough sleep, you can accelerate the process with additional tools like fat burner pills, weight loss programs and certain “fat burning” foods. So without ado, here are the best fat-burning foods to help you lose unwanted weight and support your overall wellness.

This content is meant to be informative, but should not be taken as medical advice. It is not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention or treatment of health problems. Always speak with your doctor before starting any new supplement or exercise regimen.

Natural Fat Burning Foods

While not all of the following are foods (some are spices, oils or beverages), they can all be consumed and can contribute to fat loss.

Apple cider vinegar

Apple cider vinegar (ACV) is a popular weight loss supplement, and there is some evidence to support its use. Apple cider vinegar pills, as well as other vinegars, contain acetic acid, a compound that may help promote fat oxidation (fat burn) and naturally reduce your appetite.

Because healthy gut bacteria also produce acetate when they digest prebiotics from fiber-rich foods like veggies and whole grain cereals, taking a probiotic supplement may be another helpful way to boost the acetic acid levels in your body.

Related: The Best Non-Stimulant Fat Burners for Cravings and Appetite Suppression

Coffee and tea

Coffee, green tea and black tea are all natural stimulants thanks to the caffeine they contain. Caffeine can provide an immediate boost to your alertness, but it also provides some other effects, namely, increasing how much fat your body burns during a workout.

In a 2020 review of several studies, researchers found that moderate caffeine intake prior to a workout could help to significantly boost how much fat is burned while working out. This effect was particularly strong in people who were previously sedentary or not typically very active.

While you can get a pre-workout dose of caffeine from fat burning or pre-workout supplements, you may get the same effect from a cup of coffee or tea.

Related: Does Coffee Suppress Appetite?

Protein powder

Of the three macronutrients (protein, carbs and fat), it takes the most calories to digest protein. The TEF (thermic effect of food) of protein is about 20-30 percent of the calories it contains, while it takes much fewer calories to digest carbohydrates and fat. (TEF refers to how many calories you burn while digesting the food you eat.) This makes high-protein foods, like protein powder, some of the best fat-burning foods.

Protein powder may also help you build your muscle mass when paired with resistance exercise. A higher muscle mass means that your body burns more calories at rest. Both animal-based and plant-based protein powders can offer these effects.

Related Post: The Best Protein Powders for Weight Loss

Lean meats

Much like protein powder, lean meats are high in protein—which means they have a high TEF. Fattier cuts of meat have a lower TEF because of their fat content, so it may be better to stick to lean proteins with no visible fat. This includes:

• Beef with minimal marbling and visible fat trimmed
• Pork with minimal marbling and visible fat trimmed
• Skinless chicken breast
• Skinless fish filets

Additionally, protein offers numerous other benefits for body weight reduction—like increased fullness and maintenance of muscle mass. Likewise, meats like grass-fed beef and fatty fish (like salmon and tuna) can be excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids, calcium and magnesium.

Hot peppers

The heat in chili peppers comes from the compound capsaicin. In addition to its hot taste, capsaicin also promotes another kind of heat: thermogenesis, or increased calorie burn.

In a study of people on a calorie-restricted diet, researchers found that just one gram of red chili pepper added to each meal could help prevent reductions in energy expenditure. In other words, the chili pepper helped people on calorie-restricted diets maintain their normal calorie burn, when otherwise it may have decreased due to the reduction in calories they were eating.

Full-fat dairy

Full-fat dairy products like whole milk, butter, cheese and Greek yogurt are rich in a type of fat called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). CLA may help your body burn more fat. In a 2007 study, researchers found that six months of CLA supplementation increased fat and calorie burn while sleeping. Still, it’s important to note that this study utilized high-dose CLA supplementation rather than naturally CLA-containing foods.

Full-fat dairy products are also higher in calories than their low-fat counterparts, so it’s important to consume these foods in moderation if you’re trying to lose weight.

Cinnamon

For centuries, cinnamon has been used as an herbal remedy for high blood sugar levels and type 2 diabetes. Researchers have since confirmed that it does indeed offer a number of metabolic benefits.

Interestingly, a compound found in cinnamon called trans-cinnamic acid may help convert white fat to brown fat in a process called beiging. Brown fat is rich in mitochondria, and it helps stimulate calorie and fat burn.

Coconut oil

Coconut oil contains small amounts of fats called medium chain triglycerides (MCTs), which may help the body burn more fat during exercise. Coconut oil also appears to affect appetite and satiety hormones, and may help prevent overeating that leads to excess weight gain.

In a 2022 study in PLoS One, researchers found that men who consumed coconut oil with their breakfast reported less hunger than men who consumed olive oil with their breakfast. They also had favorable changes in the appetite regulating hormone peptide YY. Obese men in the study who consumed coconut oil also ate roughly 140 fewer calories than obese men who consumed olive oil.

What Are Fat Burning Foods?

Fat burning foods are foods that may help boost your metabolism, which results in more burned calories. For this reason, these foods may offer very slight advantages for weight loss. For successful and sustainable weight loss, they should be consumed as part of a healthy and balanced lifestyle that includes a moderately calorie-restricted diet, regular physical activity, adequate sleep and stress management.

Related: 7 Weight Loss Tips and Strategies To Help You Lose Weight

Benefits of Fat Burning Foods

Fat burning foods can help you burn more body fat and calories, making it easier to lose weight. Although the idea of negative-calorie foods (foods that burn more calories through digestion than they contain) has been debunked, these fat-burning foods may offer a small boost to support your weight loss goals.

They can work in a number of ways. Some are rich in protein, which slows down digestion and increases the thermic effect of food. Protein also offers several other benefits for weight loss, like helping you stay full and preventing your body from burning through your muscle stores.

Other foods may contain compounds like caffeine or antioxidants that trigger your body to burn more fat when you’re working out. Some fat-burning foods may influence your hunger and satiety hormones to reduce your appetite and make food cravings more manageable.

Regardless of their mechanism of action, these healthy foods can be helpful to include as part of your diet.

Related: How Much Weight Can You Lose in a Month?

Types of Body Fat

There are two main types of body fat: visceral fat and subcutaneous fat. Subcutaneous fat is the layer of fat just beneath your skin. This fat is important for temperature regulation and cushioning your body from injury. Visceral fat is the fat that gathers around your organs. It’s internal, so it can’t be visually observed (unlike subcutaneous fat).

Generally, extra subcutaneous fat accumulates in the hips, thighs and arms. Belly fat in particular is a telltale sign of excess visceral fat. Although excessive subcutaneous fat may not look the way you want, excessive visceral fat is actually much more dangerous to your health. Too much visceral fat is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and other metabolic diseases.

Fat can also be divided into brown fat or white fat. The body naturally contains only small amounts of brown fat, but this fat is full of mitochondria—cellular “power plants” which can help your body burn more fat in response to changes in temperature and diet. Fat-burning foods and supplements may activate the brown fat’s natural thermogenic capabilities.

Our Favorite Products for Fat Burning

If you want to further accelerate your fat burn, consider adding one of these thermogenic supplements to your daily routine. Just remember that they aren’t a quick fix—to see results, you’ll still need to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviors like slightly reducing your calorie intake, exercising more or both.

PhenQ

PhenQ is a thermogenic supplement that contains several weight loss-enhancing ingredients, including alpha-Lacys Reset and capsaicin extract from hot peppers. It also contains 150 milligrams of caffeine per recommended dose (two capsules). Combined, these ingredients can help you burn more calories than you normally would, which could help you reach your goals slightly faster.

Transparent Labs Recomp

This thermogenic supplement from Transparent Labs contains several ingredients that may help increase calorie burn and suppress your appetite, including green tea and caffeine. Additionally, all Transparent Labs supplements are free of artificial colors, flavors and sweeteners.

Capsiplex Trim

Capsiplex Trim is a fat burner specifically for women. It’s designed to help enhance exercise performance and support body composition changes. The key ingredient is Capsimax, which is a capsaicin extract derived from hot peppers. It also contains caffeine to stimulate calorie and fat burn.

Fat Burning Food FAQs

What foods burn belly fat?

There are no foods that specifically target belly fat. Foods that burn fat offer only small boosts to your fat and calorie burn, and they’re not able to direct fat burn from one specific area of the body.

What is a healthy body fat percentage?

According to the American Council on Exercise, a normal body fat level for men could be anywhere from six to 24 percent, while a normal body fat level for women could range from 14 to 31 percent.

How can I accelerate my fat loss?

Consistently being in a calorie deficit through eating fewer calories and/or exercising more is the best way to lose weight. Fat-burning foods or supplements may help only slightly.

What burns fat while you sleep?

Building more muscle can help your body to burn more fat at rest, meaning you’d be burning additional calories in your sleep. To increase your muscle mass, engage in resistance training exercises and eat plenty of protein.

What drinks burn fat?

Coffee and tea may help your body burn a small amount of extra fat during workouts thanks to their caffeine content.

Related: The Best Teas for Losing Weight and Boosting Your Metabolism

Final Thoughts

Fat burning foods could help you lose weight faster, but they’re not magic pills. The health benefits they offer are very slight. Some fat-burning foods, like protein powder and lean meat, increase the thermic effect of food because it takes more energy to digest them. Others, like coffee and hot peppers, contain compounds that may stimulate the body to burn more stored body fat during exercise.

Fat burning foods and supplements could be a helpful addition to your routine if you’re trying to lose weight, but it’s also important to make sure that you’re leading a healthy lifestyle that’s supportive of sustainable, gradual and healthy weight loss.

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