Thermogenic Diet Foods

Thermogenic diets incorporate foods that may enhance thermogenesis, a process that uses energy to create heat, increasing metabolic activity and burning calories. About 10 percent of the calories people consume are burned through diet induced thermogenisis and, although this type of energy expenditure plays a small role in total calories burned, consuming foods that increase thermogensis most may help with weight regulation, according to Dr. Klaas R. Westerterp at the Department of Human Biology at Maastricht University, in the Netherlands in a study published in August, 2004 in the journal Nutrition & Metabolism.

Protein

Higher protein diets were found to be more thermogenic than high carb-low fat diets, and better at helping maintain weight after weight loss, while also helping increase feelings of fullness and satiety, according to Dr. Westerterp at the Department of Human Biology, Maastricht University, The Netherlands in a study published in August, 2004 in the journal Nutrition & Metabolism. Sources of protein incude poultry, lean cuts of beef, turkey, and nuts.

Green Tea

A green tea-caffeine mixture was found to improve weight maintenance through thermogenesis, as well as fat oxidation, and the two ingredients, working together in green tea-catechins, a type of polyphenol, and caffeine-have the potential to significantly impact thermogenisis, according to Dr. Margriet Westerterp-Plantenga at the Department of Human Biology, Nutrim, Faculty of Health, Medicine, and Life Sciences at Maastricht University, in The Netherlands in a study published in April 26, 2010 in the journal Physiology & Behavior.

Although green tea comes from the same leaves as black tea, green tea is the non-oxidized/non-fermented form, and contains higher concetrations of the polyphenols epicatechin, epicatechin gallate, and epigallocatechin, which may stimulate thermogenesis and fat oxidation through inhibiting a particular enzyme in the body, notes Dr. Westerterp-Plantenga at the Department of Human Biology, Nutrim, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands and colleagues in a review published August, 2006 in the journal Physiology & Behavior.

Medium Chain Fatty Acids

Experimental studies conducted in animals and in humans show that medium-chain fattty acids (MCFAs) and medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), found mainly in coconut and palm kernel oils, can inhibit fat deposition by boosting thermogenesis and the oxidation of fats, according to a review by Dr. Koji Nagao and colleague at the Laboratory of Nutrition Biochemistry, Department of Applied Biochemistry and Food Science, at Saga University, in Saga, Japan published in March, 2010 in the journal Pharmocological Research.

Dr. Nagao and colleague also noted in the same 2010 review that MCFAs and MCTs may "offer the therapeutic advantage of preserving insulin sensitivity in animal models and patients with Type 2 diabetes."

Spices

Consuming spicy foods with black pepper or red peppers containing capsaicin led to increases in thermogeisis and in feeling of fullness after a meal, according to Dr. Westerterp-Plantenga at the Department of Human Biology, Nutrim, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands,and colleagues in a review published in August, 2006 in the journal Physiology & Behavior. Black pepper, according to the 2006 review by Dr. Westerterp-Plantenga and colleagues, contains a substance called piperine which may influence thermogenesis by stimulating the sympathetic nervous system, increasing calorie burning, noted Dr. Westerterp-Plantega and colleagues in their August, 2006 review.

Japanese men who consumed a breakfast containing capsaicin, the substance that gives red peppers their pungent kick, experienced increased diet-induced energy-expenditure immediately after their meal, while Japanese women who ate red peppers with their meal, also had increased energy expenditure as well as fat oxidation after their meal, according to the August, 2006 review by Dr. Westerterp-Plantenga and colleagues.

References

• "Nutrition & Metabolism": Diet Induced Thermogenesis; K. Westerterp; Aug. 2004.
• "Physiology & Behavior": Green Tea Catechins, Caffeine and Body-Weight Regulation; M.S. Westerterp-Plantenga; April, 2010.
• "Physiology & Behavior": Metabolic Effects of Spices, Teas, and Caffeine; M.S. Westerterp-Plantenga; Aug. 2006.
• "Pharmacological Research:" Medium-Chain Fatty Acids: Functional Lipids for the Prevention and Treatment of the Metabolic Syndrome; K. Nagao; March, 2010.