Around two-thirds of all Americans are overweight or obese, meaning that they carry more weight than their bodies need. Excessive weight has been linked with an increased risk of a number of serious health problems, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer.
As a result, losing weight is one of the best things that you can do to protect your health, and there are a number of ways that you can help to lose weight.
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How to Burn Fat?
Your metabolism is your body's natural mechanism for eliminating body fat. When you burn more calories than you consume, your body naturally metabolizes some of your stored body fat and uses it to produce energy.
Reducing the number of calories that you consume and exercising more produces a calorie deficit, allowing you to lose weight and inches.
Fat Burning Foods
Any time that you have a calorie deficit, your body will lose weight; however, some foods can actually help you lose weight at a faster pace. These so-called fat burning foods contain natural compounds that assist with losing weight in different ways. Some commonly enjoyed slimming foods include:
- Cayenne Pepper. Hot and spicy cayenne pepper has been shown to increase weight loss by temporarily raising the body's temperature and assisting with the breakdown of fat. It's also been shown to slow down the rate of weight gain and to control appetite.
- Cinnamon. This flavorful spice is considered a fat burning food because it helps to normalize blood sugar levels, which in turn reduces the amount of fat that the body stores and allows stored fat to be used for energy.
- Ginger. The tasty root of the ginger plant has been shown in studies to temporarily boost metabolism activity levels by as much as 20 percent. Plus, ginger assists with digestion and is commonly used as an appetite suppressant.
- Citrus fruits. The vitamin C in citrus fruits helps the body breakdown fat. Studies have shown that people who consume diets high in vitamin C are more likely to be thin than those who do not.
- Apples and berries. A complex carbohydrate found in apples and berries called pectin assists with fat burning by limiting the amount of fat that your body absorbs from other foods. Pectin competes with body fat for absorption and encourages the body to burn stored fat rather than to retain it.
Extra Fat Burning Support
Watching your diet, exercising more and eating fat burning foods can help you to lose weight and decrease your body fat percentage to protect your health and improve your well-being; however, for some people, weight loss results are sluggish when these lifestyle changes are made on their own.