10 Foods That Burn Belly Fat
Stomach fat – we all want less of it. We exercise several days a week, try to eat healthier, and still carry the weight around our middle. What’s the deal?
For women, fat loss is a little tricky because we deal with a lot of nutritional and hormonal imbalance issues. So today I’m going to give you an effective way to balance your diet with 10 foods that burn belly fat. Plus explain two important hormones, insulin and glucagon, which will help you burn fat.
As American’s we eat way too many carbohydrates in the form of refined sugar, bread, pasta and any other grain products. When we eat any meal or snack high in carbohydrates (both starch and sugars) it’s all broken down to sugar in the digestive process. A rise in blood sugar causes a rise in insulin. To adjust for this, your pancreas secretes insulin into your bloodstream to keep the blood sugar level normal.
The problem is that one of the ways your body avoids dangerously elevated blood sugar is through converting those excess carbohydrates into fat.
And what’s worse is that the insulin stimulated by the excess carbohydrates we eat, aggressively promotes the accumulation of body fat primarily in your belly!
You're essentially sending a hormonal message to your body that says "store more fat."
How Can We Decrease or Control the Amount of Fat-Storing Insulin?
With protein.
Now, it's also key to limit grains and sugar. But for the sake of this post, we are focusing on protein.
Protein stimulates the release of a hormone called glucagon, which does the exact opposite of insulin. So where insulin is a “fat-storing hormone”, glucagon is actually a “fat-burning hormone”.
So it's obvious to see that reducing insulin and raising glucagon is in our best interests! The goal is to correctly balance both hormones.
You do not need an over abundance of protein like you may hear big bodybuilders consume. There’s a misconception that you need tons and tons of protein every day in order to have lean and strong muscles.
However, it is very important to ensure you get healthy sources of protein at each meal because this will help you burn fat. If you eat 1-3 servings of protein at each meal you consume, this is going to create a fat burning effect and also help stabilize your blood sugar.
By increasing your intake of protein and spreading it out throughout the day, you can regularly produce sufficient amounts of glucagon.
What Foods Count As Good Sources of Protein?
10 foods that burn belly fat & are good sources of protein include:
- Organic Whole Eggs (Not fried; Eat as uncooked as possible to be a “complete” protein. Soft boiled or poached are great examples)
- Grass-fed Beef and Bison
- Organic Chicken (containing no hormones or antibiotics)
- Turkey or lean ground turkey
- Raw Dairy products like raw milk, cheese, yogurt, kefir, etc.
- Organic Dairy products, if raw is hard to access. Pasteurized dairy in general isn't the healthiest, regardless if it's organic. But at least organic won't have the hormones/antibiotics in it.
- Wild-caught, mercury-free Fish (Not farm-raised fish)
- Various types of Beans and Lentils
- Various types of Nuts and Nut Butters (Think macadamia nuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, pecans, cashews/cashew butter, almonds/almond butter)
- Protein Powders (Should be soy-free and contain no artificial sweeteners/flavors like "Sucralose", AKA Splenda. Finding one that's Organic & Non-GMO is also great.)
3 Things You Can Do Today to Eat More Protein & Burn More Fat!
- Include protein in every meal– Each time you eat a meal, whether it’s a larger meal or just a snack, make sure you have a source of protein in it.Enter your text here...
- Plan ahead- Before you want to eat, plan for your protein source FIRST. Then base the rest of your meal of fibrous carbohydrates and healthy fats around that.
- Choose good quality and natural sources of protein- You need to create a fat burning system and balance your hormones. But if you continue eating meats, eggs and dairy that is pumped full of hormones and other junk, then you’ll never see the results you can have! Do your very best to choose from the various protein sources listed above.
Getting enough protein in can be tough! As a busy woman, what tips or ideas do you have that helps you? Share with us below!
This is EXACTLY my problem and where I need the help! Thank you for sharing ?
You are very welcome Jenn, glad I could be of help to you! Take small steps to improving your nutrition instead of changing everything all at once. That’s key to creating healthier habits for yourself!