What Foods Help Lose Weight Quickly?

By Rando Meresmaa

Anyone who wants to lose some weight has to pay very close attention to what foods they eat. Eating the right foods is extremely important and it is necessary to make the right choices. But there are not "good" foods and "bad" foods, some foods are better then others, and one has to make the best choices under different circumstances. You may not always be able to eat the best things possible, but you don't have to eat the worst thing either. If you're faced with a choice between bad and worse, take bad. Faced with good and great, choose great. Here is some advice:

Choose foods that have a high thermic effect (metabolism boosting foods)

The faster your metabolic rate is the more calories you burn. So it is very important to eat foods that boost metabolism. Lean proteins and natural, fiber-containing complex carbohydrates have a very high thermic effect. Protein foods stimulate the metabolism the most and the metabolic rate increases 25-30% after eating lean proteins. That is why it is essential to eat lean proteins with every meal. Complex carbohydrates include fibrous vegetables, whole grains and natural starches such as yams, beans, brown rice, and oatmeal. If you put lean proteins and complex carbs together then you get an excellent fat burning combination.

Fat producing foods have to be avoided

It is very important to avoid foods that have a low thermic effect and some foods are more likely to be stored as fat then others. The three types of food that promote fat storage the most include:

• High fat foods (high calorie density; 9 calories per gram, low thermic effect)
• High sugar or refined carbohydrates (high calorie density, absorbed too quickly)
• Alcohol (high calorie density; 7 calories per gram. Suppresses fat-burning)

Avoid certain food combinations

Some foods are more likely to be stored as fat and some food combinations, if eaten together, can be disastrous. The worst of all possible food combinations is fat combined with sugar because it elevates your blood levels of fat, sugar and insulin simultaneously. Low quality fats and refined sugars, eaten together, are also contributing factors in the development of nearly every major disease. The second worst combination is sugar and alcohol. Alcohol that is mixed in high sugar drinks can contribute to literally thousands of calories over the course of an evening. Alcohol inhibits fat burning.

Choose foods that are nutritious

Alcohol has 7 calories per gram, but it has no nutritional value at all. The goal is to get the most out of your calories. Any food that has been refined, enriched, preserved, processed, canned, boxed or frozen will usually have less nutritional density than fresh foods in their natural state. Junk foods have little or no nutritional value and they don't boost your metabolism. That's why they're also called "empty calories." You simply cannot eat "junk foods" on a regular daily basis and expect to get good results.