Healthy Foods to Lower Body Fat

No matter how much you exercise, you will not be able to lower your body fat percentage if you are not eating the right foods and maintaining a balanced diet that does not exceed your caloric needs. Even if you eat nothing but healthy foods, you can still gain excess fat if you are consuming too many calories. The key to lowering your body fat percentage is eating the right amount of nutritious foods that promote fat loss.

Cruciferous Vegetables

Cruciferous vegetables are a unique group of vegetables that include Brussels sprouts, broccoli, radishes, cabbage, bok choy and arugula, just to name a few. They are low in calories and fat, and high in fiber, so they leave you feeling full for a long time. What's really special about cruciferous vegetables, though, is that they contain a chemical called, diindolymethane. According to the author of The Anti Estrogen Diet, this chemical helps your body balance and maintain estrogen metabolites which can lead to weight gain when they are imbalanced. Another great thing about cruciferous vegetables is that you can eat them liberally because they are so low in calories.

Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds are an excellent source of protein and healthy fats, and they also have a low glycemic index, which means they do not cause your blood sugar to spike when you eat them. All of these factors are important for lowering your body fat percentage. Protein keeps your metabolism high and helps you build muscle that will burn excess calories, and the healthy fats and low glycemic load will prevent your body from storing excess fat. You should replace between-meal snacks with a handful of nuts or seeds.

Spicy Peppers

Spicy peppers contain a chemical called capsaicin. Capsaicin is the chemical that makes the peppers feel hot when you eat them. It doesn't just make you feel hot, though. It actually makes you hot. According to a study conducted by Yasser Mahmoud that was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, capsaicin literally raises your body temperature and metabolism for a brief period of time. Spice peppers are mostly water and hardly contain any calories, so you can eat them to your heart's desire.

Fresh Fruits

Fruits are high in fiber, low in fat and low in calories, just like vegetables. Fruits also contain a lot of sugar, but the sugar in natural fruits is all natural. Natural sugars do not contribute to weight gain the same way refined sugars do, like white sugar and high fructose corn syrup. You can satisfy your sweet tooth by substituting other sweets in your diet with fresh fruits.