Thursday, June 3, 2010

Secret fat loss foods

There are certain types of vegetables that have hormone altering properties. When I say hormone, I don't necessarily mean they increase hormone or testosterone levels. Instead they have an effect on other chemical messengers that tell your body to store energy or release energy.

These vegetables are called cruciferous veggies. Examples of these are broccoli, sprouts, spinach, kale, cauliflower, and bok choy are a few examples. However, eating these foods on a regular basis can be A) inconvenient to prepare and B) not always tasty.

However, there are ways to get the weight loss (and cancer fighting) properties of these foods without actually sitting down to a plateful of sprouts. Here are a few options -
  1. Include them in fruit smoothies. Cruciferous veggies do not have a very dominant flavor when raw. As a  result, the awful taste of brussel sprouts can be masked by a few strawberries, banana and some chocolate chips. This would be an amazing smoothie!! My wife and I do this with our daughter and it is amazing how much she loves her strawberry, blueberry and spinach smoothies. She calls it her "Special Juice."
  2. Chop them up and mix them with tuna salad. I did this yesterday. I chopped broccoli and carrots and mixed them up with mayo and tuna and it was delicious!! 
  3. Juicing. Juicing doesn't quite have the same effect as putting them into smoothies because you leave so much behind with juicing. But if you really must, juicing would be an option.
The final option is to simply find creative ways to prepare these foods. If you've never made Kale Chips, they are delicious. Tiffany made some and the were surprisingly good. Simply place the kale on a baking sheet, spray with some olive oil, season a touch and bake.  They are pretty good and kale is a terrific source of anti-cancer compounds as well as fat-loss inducing properties.

In addition to these foods, most fruits and veggies are beneficial for weight loss. The recommended daily intake is 5-10 servings of fruit. If you aren't at 5, you might want to start thinking about why you aren't losing weight.

Have a great day and enjoy your new found foods!!

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