7 Foods To Help You Lose Weight

7 Foods To Help You Lose Weight

Losing weight at any age, but especially after the age of 40 gets harder as your metabolism slows down.  No matter your age, incorporating these seven foods into your daily or weekly diet will have you losing the unwanted fat from your stomach (men & women) and thighs (women especially).  Losing weight doesn't have to be a burden and these seven foods are definitely not!

Cinnamon instead of other Sweets

Why not sweeten your favorite coffeee, tea or breakfast meal with cinnamon instead of sugar (or sugar substitute)?  You can save 200 to 500 calories a week, which can lose 2 - 5 pounds a year without doing any other diet change. In a study researchers found that adding just one half a teaspoon of cinnamon a day can lower bad cholesterol levels by 18 percent and tryglicerides by an astounding 30 percent!

Hot sauce burns fat

While mustard and ketchup are ok condiments,if you want to burn fat try using some hot sauce. In an Australian study of men and women, researchers discovered that levels of insultin dropped by thirty two percent after a hot spicy meal.  A theory discusses that Capsaicin, the hot chemical found in chiles, is thought to improve your body's ability to remove insulin from your bloodstream after eatting.  This makes it a lot more likely that your body will burn fat immediately following a meal if spiced up with hot sauces containing chile peppers.  Good news for those who like spicey meals! Just reminder to not swish the meal down with beer or soda and drink water!

Water with lemon

A recent study in California of 240 women found that those trying to lose weight who replaced their sweetened drinks (soda, juice, etc) with water lost three pounds more every year then those who did not.  For those women who drank more than four cups of water a day lost an additional two pounds compared to those who didn't.  That is 5 pounds a year lost just from drinking water!  For women drinking soda can lead to osteoporosis because the phosphoric acid found in soda chances the acid balance in your blood.  Why add lemon?  This can give your water a little flavor at no expense but water with out lemon is just the same.

Ground flax seed

To cut down on binge eating, a food such as flaxseed, which is high in fiber and health fats, will stabilize your blood sugar levels. This fact alone will help cut down on binges.  There are suggestions in various research material that states flaxseed can normalize hormone swings due to its high content in plant estrogens.  Ground flaxseed is easist to digest and we recommend you use this as a condiment on other meals such as soups, salads and your morning cereal.  You can also substitute ground flaxseed for canola, oil, shortening, corn used in your baking of cookies, muffins and other foods.  The substitute ratio is to replace 1/3rd a cup of your normal baking ingredient with 1 cup of ground flaxseed.  Your food will brown faster with flaxseed and recommend a little lower temperature used for baking.

Granola Bars High in Fiber

In another study done in Britain, it was found that women who eat fiber rich, high-carb breakfasts burned two times as much fat during workouts than those who ate low fiber foods.  So women (and men), we suggest having a granola bar with at least five grams of fiber.  If you eat low fiber bars, this is refined carbohydrates, and this can cause a spike in your insulin levels and this will limit your body's natural ability to use fat as fuel during the rest of the day.

Salmon for Calcium and Vitamin D

In a Kaiser Pemanent study for thirty six thousand women ages 50 to 70, those who took Calcium and Vitamin D supplements gained less weight after menapause.  Also Vitamin D deficiency has shown that your appetite regulating hormone leptin can't be efficient. So why Salmon?  It is loaded with Vitamin D, calcium, omega-3 fatty acids: pretty much everything you need to help lose weight as it is also an extremely lean food compared to red meats. Sick of or don't like Salmon? Try tuna, sardines and/or mackeral.

Walnuts for Omega-3

Substituting walnuts for your chip snack can help you feel full longer.  Walnuts are rich in omega-3 fatty acids which gives you the full feeling affect.  In an Australian one year study for people with diabetes following a low-fat diet , they found those that included just eight to 10 walnuts a day lost more weight and body fat .  An additional benefit for this study group was their insulin levels reduced which helps limit the ability for fat to be stored.