Diet Tips: Best Fat-Burning Foods for Women

Women who want to burn fat should try to eat foods that encourage the process. Specifically, women should focus on eating foods that boost metabolism, or the body's natural process of turning foods into consumable energy. The following foods are

Fat-Burning Food: Water

Not exactly a food, water is a great way for women to increase their body's natural tendency to remain healthy. Water will keep all the cells working in good order, remove toxins from the body, and generally keep your body going throughout the day. It should be consumed in small bits during the day, usually in the form of 8 glasses of 8 ounces each.

One caution about water is that it should not be consumed too heavily at mealtime because it can dilute the acids in the stomach that break down food. This can make any of the below foods somewhat useless because the body isn't actually taking in nutrients and processing them as they should due to all the water diluting the body's natural processes.

Fat-Burning Food: Breakfast Cereal

Breakfast will help the body to burn more fat because it signals the end of the nightly fast and has the body start producing energy for the day. However, don't load up on butter, cheese, and bacon. Instead, consider a bowl of oatmeal with some nuts or dried fruit stirred in. Many cold cereals with skim milk also make complete and healthy breakfasts.

Fat-Burning Food: Salmon and other Fish

Omega-3 fatty acids are a great way to boost your body's metabolism and burn more fat. This is because the fatty acids will increase the density of fat-burning enzymes in the body, encouraging fat to be burned, not stored. To get these enzymes, women should eat a serving of fish that contains omega-3 fatty acids at least 2-3 times per week, or consider taking supplement capsules of omega-3 fatty acids instead.

Fat-Burning Food: Nuts

Nuts also contain some good fats, and lots of protein and fiber. A small handful of nuts will make a good snack to tide you over until the next meal and help your body to continue the process of breaking down food during that slump between meals.

Fat-Burning Food: Leafy Green Vegetables

Leafy dark green vegetables are high in fiber and also rich in vitamins and nutrients, making them great choices to boost metabolism. They don't provide much energy, but your body will spend lots of time and energy breaking them down, meaning you will burn more fat. The darker the vegetable, the better, so kale, chard, and dark lettuce are all great choices.