“ FAT BURNING FOODS ”— THE BEST FOODS FOR A HEALTHY KETOGENIC DIET

Fahad
8 min readFeb 8, 2021

Losing weight can be a complicated process that brings with it many questions. Will This Food Help Me Burn Fat? Will that stop the progress I have already made? Fortunately, most of your weight loss questions will be answered on their own if you eat the right foods.

What exactly do we mean by the “right” food? You may think that these are foods that will help you burn a significant amount of belly fat. But these foods do not exist!

The only way to speed up fat loss with food is by consuming products that maintain a calorie deficit without feeling tired, unhealthy, or hungry. A true “fat loss food” is a food (or drink) that has one or more of the properties we’ll look at below.

What is a “fat-burning food” a so-called “fat-burning food”?

If you search for “fat-burning food” or “fat loss foods” online, you will find dozens of articles covering a variety of different foods, but the authors rarely tell you the properties of these foods.

  • They promote ketosis (which helps reduce hunger and calorie consumption)
  • They increase your calorie burn more than most sources of calories
  • They are highly filling, although they contain fewer calories compared to other common foods
  • They improve intestinal health
  • They reduce calorie consumption by triggering satiety
  • You increase energy levels without adding too many extra calories to your diet

In general, if a food or drink exhibits one or more of these properties, it will likely be on one of the dozen of “fat-burning foods” lists. If your diet consists primarily of these foods, the chances of meeting your weight loss and health goals increase significantly.

Best foods for fat loss while on the keto diet

We list some of the best foods for fat loss while on the ketogenic diet:

Nuts

Nuts are high in fat. However, studies have shown that eating nuts can improve health and even promote weight loss.

This is mainly because they contain a lot of fiber which increases our feeling of satiety and reduces calorie consumption.

Although all nuts are low in net carbohydrate content, the amount varies widely between different types of nuts.

  • Almonds: 5 grams of net carbohydrates (recommended maximum amount per serving up to 180g daily)
  • Cashew nuts: 11 grams net carbohydrates (recommended maximum amount per serving up to 75g daily)
  • Brazil nuts: 4 grams of net carbohydrates (recommended maximum amount per serving up to 180g daily)
  • Macadamia nuts: 4 grams of net carbohydrates (Recommended maximum amount per serving up to 180g daily)
  • Pistachios: 9 grams of net carbohydrates (Recommended maximum amount per serving up to 80g daily)
  • Pecans: 4 grams of net carbohydrates (Recommended maximum amount per serving up to 180g daily)
  • Walnuts: 10–12 grams of net carbohydrates (Recommended maximum amount per serving up to 75g daily)

Eggs

Whenever you see a food that is full of protein, think, “This will help me lose weight.” Eggs are a protein-rich food that gives us plenty of evidence to support this rule.

They are one of the healthiest and most versatile foods on the planet. Many experts even refer to the egg as one of the only real “superfoods”.

Just one egg yolk contains thirteen essential vitamins and minerals as well as the eye-protecting antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin. They’re also one of the best sources of choline, a vitamin-like essential nutrient, and a methyl donor that is involved in many vital physiological processes.

This nutrient powerhouse can increase the feeling of fullness and keep the blood sugar level stable. If you want to find the healthiest eggs, look for breeders who give their chickens access to grazing land — a place where they can eat lots of insects and soak up the sun. Chickens reared this way lay eggs that are fortified with more omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals.

Leaf Green

Leafy greens like kale, cabbage, spinach, and Swiss chard are full of nutrients and iron. They’re also spiced up with fiber, which slows down the digestive process and makes you feel full with fewer calories.

Sauerkraut and Kimchi

Many studies suggest that maintaining a healthy bacterial balance in your gut can improve gut health, which in turn helps reduce fat mass and reduce inflammation. Fermented foods that contain both good bacteria and prebiotic fiber, such as kimchi and sauerkraut, help ensure that your gut is healthy.

The main ingredient in both kimchi and sauerkraut is cabbage — a green leafy vegetable that is high in antioxidants, prebiotic fiber, and vitamin C, but extremely low in calories (only 22 kcal per 250g). In other words, whether you ferment cabbage or eat it in some other preparation, you can eat it to your heart’s content.

If you don’t know kimchi — it’s a spicy Korean preparation that provides us with an excellent source of fiber and vitamins A, B, and C. Because it is fermented (like sauerkraut), kimchi contains a lot of probiotics that help heal your intestines.

Vinegar

Another super low-calorie condiment that you can use as a substitute for higher-calorie additives is vinegar. Several studies also suggest that vinegar can be useful for weight loss in other ways.

For example, a 12-week study in obese people showed that consuming 15 or 30 ml of vinegar per day caused a weight loss of 1.2–1.7 kg. The study researchers suggested that vinegar’s ability to increase satiety may be the answer behind these results.

Avocados

This delicious food gets about 80% of its calories from fat and has long been a ketogenic superfood. While a whole avocado has around 17 grams of carbohydrates, almost all of those (13 grams) is a fiber that is not digestible. Carbohydrates that are not digestible do not count.

Avocados are very nutritious and contain up to 20 essential nutrients such as folate, vitamin K, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin E, and riboflavin. They are also an excellent source of potassium, a mineral that is essential in the keto diet. Especially important, they fill you up!

Olives and Olive Oil

Olives and olive oil contain numerous health-promoting ingredients. One of the most studied substances is oleocanthal, which has anti-inflammatory properties that rival the effects of ibuprofen.

Studies suggest that olive oil can help increase fat loss and also promote the maintenance of lean body mass. The combination of the healthy fats found in olive oil and its anti-inflammatory properties are the main reasons that this fatty food can help you lose weight.

Dark Chocolate

This sinful pleasure may be as pleasant to you as it is to your body. The cocoa in dark chocolate is rich in flavanols, which improve digestive health and lower blood pressure, the risk of heart disease, and insulin resistance. Overall, this will help prepare your body for fat loss and improve overall health.

However, this does not mean that you have a free ticket to eat as much dark chocolate as you want, especially if you are on a ketogenic diet. Many chocolate products contain enough net carbohydrates to kick you out of ketosis.

When you buy chocolate or a cocoa product, read the label carefully to make sure it has no added sugar and a large number of carbohydrates per serving. If you don’t like the taste of dark chocolate, look for chocolate that gets its sweetness from healthy, low-calorie sweeteners. Take a look at our ketogenic-friendly chocolate range in the shop.

Chilli pods

Consuming chili peppers can be a helpful addition to a weight loss diet. Every chili pepper contains capsaicin, a substance that has been shown in several studies to reduce appetite and increase fat burning.

For example, one study showed that consuming 1 gram of red chili pepper reduced appetite and increased fat burning in people who don’t eat peppers regularly.

However, there is some evidence that people who are used to eating spicy foods may build tolerance, which reduces appetite loss and increases fat burning less. In other words, those of you who love spicy foods need to step up the stakes a bit to reap the benefits of chili pepper fat loss.

Berry

Most fruits are too high in carbohydrates to include in the ketogenic diet, but some berries are delicious exceptions.

There are hundreds of types of berries in the world, and all of them contain various anthocyanins which, like flavonoids, are responsible for their distinctive red, blue, and purple colors. These flavonoids also have powerful anti-inflammatory effects and can improve gut and brain health.

And don’t forget their sweet and spicy taste! A few berries may be enough to curb your sugar cravings so that you don’t succumb to the craving for sweets.

However, while on the ketogenic diet, it is best to consume berries in moderation as they have a relatively higher net carbohydrate content.

Conclusion

The list of “Fat Burning Foods” goes on, including coffee, green matcha tea, peanut butter, high-fat hard cheese, grass-fed chicken, cattle, or pork meat, or sustainably-caught salmon. The main thing is that you eat everything in bulk and monitor net carbs so as not to get thrown out of ketosis.

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