Weight gain around your abdomen may be due to a variety of factors such as genetics, hormonal changes and aging. According to MayoClinic.com, excess belly fat can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some types of cancer. To burn belly fat, you must burn more calories than you eat. A variety of foods can help burn belly fat by increasing your metabolism and removing accumulated fat from your cells. A healthy diet and an active lifestyle can help you burn unwanted belly fat.
Grapefruit
Eating grapefruit can help you burn belly fat. This citrus fruit is rich in vitamin C -- a vitamin that can strengthen your immune system, increase your metabolism and dilute fats. Other helpful fruits rich in vitamin C are limes, lemons, tangerines and oranges.
Low-fat Dairy
Adding calcium-rich, low-fat dairy foods into your daily diet can help you burn belly fat. Dairy foods such as low-fat milk, skim milk, low-fat cheese and plain reduced-fat yogurt can boost weight loss by breaking down accumulated fat in your fat cells. According to Michael B. Zemel, Ph.D., director of the Nutrition Institute at the University of Tennessee, a calcium deficiency can trigger the release of calcitriol -- a hormone that stores fat in your body.
Chilies and Cayenne Peppers
If you want to burn belly fat, add spicy chilies or cayenne peppers to your daily diet. These spicy vegetables contain capsaicin, a chemical compound that increases your metabolism, encourages weight loss and increases your energy level. According to Fat Free Kitchen, foods rich in capsaicin can continue to burn calories up to 20 minutes after eating them.
Apples
Eating apples can help you burn belly fat. Apples are rich in pectin, a nutrient that prevents your cells from absorbing fat, aids in water absorption from food and helps your body release fat from your cells. Apples also contain disease-fighting antioxidants, substances that may prevent the development of metabolic syndrome -- a condition marked by excess belly fat or an apple body shape.
Protein-based Foods
Eating protein-based foods can boost your metabolism and help you shed excess belly fat. It takes more energy to digest protein-based foods -- such as turkey, fish, chicken, beans, eggs, soy and tofu -- than it does to digest fats and carbohydrates, meaning you burn more calories digesting these foods.
Lentils
If you want to flatten your belly, add lentils into your daily diet. According to Fat Free Kitchen, lentils are rich in protein and soluble fiber, nutrients that stimulate your metabolism, stabilize your blood sugar levels and increase your body's fat-burning abilities.
Peanuts
If you want to burn unwanted belly fat, try snacking on peanuts. Peanuts are loaded with fiber, protein and healthy unsaturated fat. They prevent weight gain, stabilize blood sugar levels and delay the feeling of hunger.
Oatmeal
Oatmeal contains soluble fiber that helps flush digestive acids out of your system, allowing you to feel satiated for a longer amount of time. Oatmeal also helps lower your blood cholesterol levels and decrease your risk of developing colon cancer or heart disease.
References
- Women's Health: 6 Fat-Fighting Foods
- Fat Free Kitchen: List of Thermogenic Foods
- Fat Free Kitchen: Fat Burning Foods: Foods That Burn Fat and Calories
- Flat-Stomach-Exercises.com: Foods That Burn Fat!
- The Facts About Fitness: Belly Fat and How to Beat It
- MayoClinic.com: Belly Fat in Women: How to Keep It Off
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