The #1 Fat Burner - The Thermogenic Effect

One of the widest spread and most dangerous methods which people use to burn fat is through improper calorie controlled diets. Food in its most natural sense is not a calorie but a fuel which should work for you to give you optimal health, including a lean, sexy body. When people use calorie control to limit their intake of food it can lead to a number of things:

• Lack of vitamins and minerals due to insufficient food variety and quality
• Triggering the body's "starvation mode" mechanism and storing more fat whilst eliminating precious muscle
• Binge eating which triggers mass fat storage

Ultimately though, if calorie controlled diets are not well designed (and the rarely are) they will lead to the storage of energy (food) as fat cells and it will require heaps more work to lose your belly fat.

The thermogenic effect is the effect food has to burn energy through the production of heat. That's right, food can actually burn calories. This is one of the most commonly ignored strategy, and yet it is one of the most effective for fat loss.
Including thermogenic foods in your everyday eating is easy. It's important to keep the following in mind:

• Protein has the largest thermogenic effect (30%) meaning for every 100 calories of protein you eat, 30 will be burned just by eating, leaving your body with a net 70 calories.
• Cruciferous vegetables, leafy greens, celery, mushrooms, chili and many other vegetables. These foods all have very low amounts of calories and loads of Vitamins and minerals to help combat rogue xenoestrogens in your body which cause weight gain.
• Berries, apples, apricots and pears
• Including both complex and fibrous carbohydrates in meals will enhance thermogenesis (fat burning effect)

Thermogenesis is a natural process and is an extremely effective method to lose belly fat. Be aware, however, that everyone always needs a fairly balanced diet to maintain optimal health.
Be Warned: There are theories which suggest that the thermogenic effect induced by cold water intake is a good way to lose weight. In reality, drinking ice cold water produces stress hormones which have a negative effect on fat loss. On top of this it clamps down the blood vessels in the stomach, making digestion more difficult for the stomach.

Image courtesy of Francis Baytan sourced from http://www.examiner.com/x-21779-Denver-Diet-and-Exercise-Examiner~y2009m10d30-Supplement-review-Thermogenics