These foods that burn fat may seem a little weird at first. But just because a food seems strange doesn’t mean that it can’t be good for the body. In the case of these oddball foods you’ll be helping your body burn fat without risking negative side effects.
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1. Mangosteen
Mangosteen is a fruit that probably doesn’t make it into your shopping cart too often because it isn’t available at most grocery stores. It’s has a thick purple covering on the outside, and white succulent flesh on the inside. It tastes great, and the best part is that it can help you lose fat.
It’s the xanthones in mangosteen that produce the fat-burning effect. These are powerful compounds that are being researched as a potential anti-cancer drug due to their anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. If you can’t find fresh mangosteen you can drink organic mangosteen juice, found in most health food stores or online.
[color-box color=”main”]Nutritional Breakdown: A 100 gram serving of mangosteen provides you with 4% of your Vitamin C for the day, 3% of magnesium, and 7% of your daily fiber needs. So in addition to the xanthones you’re getting vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that will help click your body over to fat-burning mode.[/color-box]
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2. Marmite
The unique mix of fiber and protein, combined with its natural fat free status, make Marmite a good food to eat to bolster fat loss. For many this will be a strange food they’ve never tried before, and maybe never heard of before either.
Originally developed in Germany, this yeast spread grew popular throughout the UK and now there are different versions of it found across the globe. It never caught on in the states, and remains a food that is a total mystery to most Americans.
While it may seem strange, it might be worth checking the international aisle of the supermarket and giving this spread a go.
[color-box color=”main”]Nutritional Breakdown: Eating 100 grams of Marmite provides you with an impressive 28 grams of protein. You likely won’t eat a 100 gram serving in one sitting though. However, that same size serving will get you 12% of your daily fiber. Foods that provide fiber and protein without much fat typically help you to feel satisfied and burn up fat stores.[/color-box]
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3. Kimchi
Unless you’re Korean or a fan of Korean food you might not be aware of kimchi, and it will definitely seem weird at first. It’s fermented spicy cabbage that smells potent and provides quite a kick on the palate. You may want to acquire the taste for it though, as it can help you lose excess fat when eaten regularly.
The fermentation process loads up the kimchi with digestive enzymes that will help your body break down the foods you eat and assimilate the nutrients better. Koreans eat some form of kimchi at most of their meals, and credit it with many benefits, from keeping them healthy and trim, to preventing the spread of SARS in the country.
[color-box color=”main”]Nutritional Breakdown: Because kimchi is made from a variety of vegetables including cabbage, cucumbers, radishes, and onions, they are typically low in calories. They are flavored with red chili, providing capsaicin, a substance known to boost metabolism and rev up the body’s fat burning capabilities.[/color-box]
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4. Cherimoya
This is one fruit you’ll want to seek out and add to your regular diet. It may not look like the typical fruit you’re used to eating, apples, pears, oranges, etc., but it provides quite a nutritional punch and will be a big help for fat loss.
To prepare, cut the top end of the cherimoya off, pop out the stem with a sharp knife, and begin eating the custard-like fruity insides. Be sure to avoid eating the seeds, they’re plentiful and inedible, so you can simply eat around them and place them off to the side.
[color-box color=”main”]Nutritional Breakdown: In a 100 gram serving of cherimoya you’ll be getting 12% of your daily fiber, 20% of Vitamin C, and 8% of potassium. All of this comes with just 75 calories making it a perfect snack between meals.[/color-box]
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5. Insects
While insect eating hasn’t really caught on in the western world, there are many cultures where it’s a regular menu item. Because of the high protein, low calorie, and low carb count of most bugs, they make it easier for you to lose fat while feeling satisfied at the same time.
While they might not sound too appetizing, there are some insect recipes that have been developed that make it more refined than just popping a bug in your mouth. These sort of recipes show you how roasted crickets make a good snack, or how you can incorporate ant eggs into different dishes.
[color-box color=”main”]Nutritional Breakdown: Each insect comes with a different amount of protein, fat, and calories. One example is the grasshopper. A 100 gram serving of grasshopper will provide you with 20 grams of protein, 6 grams of fat, and 2 grams of carbs.[/color-box]
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6. Natto
Those unfamiliar with Japanese cuisine will definitely look at natto with curiosity. This is a fermented soybean dish that has a very strong odor to it, and visually looks strange because of the stringy slime that clings to the clumps of soybeans.
There’s a “natto diet” proposed that says you can lose fat just by adding a daily diet of natto. The claim is that natto acts as a natural fat blocker, but a look at its nutritional makeup shows what’s really going on behind the scenes.
[color-box color=”main”]Nutritional Breakdown: When you eat 100g of natto you’re loading up with plenty of fiber and minerals. The 5 grams of fiber it contains represents one fifth of the fiber you’re supposed to get, while your magnesium and potassium reserves will get a good boost of 20% or more as well.[/color-box]
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7. Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi looks like some sort of alien hybrid vegetable, but yields impressive health benefits, including assisting you in your fat loss efforts. It tastes great, and its unique nutrients will provide you with what you need in order to boost your immune system.
If you’re lost on what to do with kohlrabi, a quick search for kohlrabi recipes turns up plenty of ideas for using it in a salad or a main dish.
[color-box color=”main”]Nutritional Breakdown: 100g of kohlrabi provides an entire day’s worth of Vitamin C. Your immune system plays a big role in how much fat you’re able to lose, so it makes a lot of sense to eat foods rich in Vitamin C. That same size serving also provides 14% of the fiber you need for the day.[/color-box]
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8. Coconut Oil
OK, this food might not be that weird but most people find it strange that an oil with so much saturated fat can actually help you burn fat. But studies show that coconut oil will help you burn fat.
When you eat coconut oil you boost the amount of energy your body uses, and therefore you are able to burn off calories without changing anything else in your life.
[color-box color=”main”]Nutritional Breakdown: 100 grams of coconut oil gives you 86 grams of saturated fat, making it 86% saturated fat, and representing more than 4 days worth of your saturated fat intake. For fat loss you’ll want to take a teaspoon of the oil with meals, and two or three teaspoon a day will keep you within your daily doses of saturated fat. There isn’t just one type of saturated fat, and the saturated fat found in coconut oil is not the same as the saturated fat found in a Big Mac.[/color-box]