Foods to support fatloss….

Today's Post: Thursday, 7-16-2009

Many of our posts have been on what foods and drinks to stop ingesting or avoid to stay healthy and/or to lose excess fat or prevent gaining it & saying why.

Today’s Early to Rise reminded me that it might make sense to stress what foods support fatloss and support good health also.

I’ve a lot of additions to add. But first here’s the ETR article.

"This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com."

"5 Essential Fat-Burning Foods for Women

By Shane "The People's Chemist" Ellison

My wife recently competed in the Arnold Amateur Figure Competition - the largest competition of its kind in the world. This is like a beauty contest in a bikini. Women are judged on their muscular physique and posing.

A 30-year-old mom of two, she swept the competition! (And the women she was competing against were 21- to 25-year-old non-moms.)

What is her secret to staying lean and muscular? For one thing, she sticks to five essential foods:

1. Organic eggs
2. All-natural grass-fed beef
3. Wild salmon
4. Avocados
5. Whey isolate

These five fat-burners are staples in her diet. Why are they so critical to keeping the fat off? You see, unlike men, women are very sensitive to the fat-storing hormone insulin. (It's because they have lower testosterone levels.) These five foods help keep insulin - and blood sugar - low, therefore helping to keep fat off.

These foods are also rich in healthy fats, which help us stay fuller longer, thereby warding off binge eating and snacks.

[Ed. Note: Shane Ellison's entire career has been dedicated to the study of molecules - how they give life and how they take from it. He was a two-time recipient of the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Grant for his research in biochemistry and physiology. He is a bestselling author, holds a master's degree in organic chemistry, and has first-hand experience in drug design. ....]"

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A. These 5 foods have no carbs, fast or otherwise. And, they also have abundant nutrition in addition to their health OK fats and oils. Plus most of them also have health OK proteins.

Protein and fiber tend to be best at turning off hunger. And, research shows people trying to lose fat or keep it off both are healthier and more successful if they include foods with these health OK fats and oils.

In addition, each of these things are also true for men who are losing fat or working to keep it off as well as for women.

Here’s my comments on the 5 foods in his list.

1. Eggs from pasture raised and fed chickens are MUCH more nutritious and taste better than eggs from caged chickens that are grass fed. BUT, they are not now readily available most places.

The good news is that eggs have such high quality protein and so many valuable nutrients, if you can only get eggs from more common sources, they are still health supporting and have the fat fighting qualities.

2. Beef from animals fed only grass are MUCH better for you than beef from grain fed ones.
This is so much the case, I think it makes sense to eat other protein foods for most of your food and, when you do eat beef, only eat beef from animals fed only grass.

You can also get buffalo meat and lamb from animals fed only grass.

These meats are somewhat available online; and I’ve found them at Whole Foods Markets.

Meat animals fed grain by contrast have too much omega 6 oils, too much total fat, too much saturated fat, and tend to have bioconcentrated pesticides and herbicides. They also more often contain antibiotics and can carry mad cow disease. Since mad cow disease comes into cows from being fed ground up parts of sick cows, beef from animals fed only grass avoids that problem.

3. Wild caught salmon in addition to having health OK protein and tasting good has omega 3 oils in very large amounts. Alaskan salmon is all wild caught. And since you can get canned Alaskan salmon, you can afford a bit more.

(Farmed salmon is even worse than grain feed meat. It has more pollutants of every kind plus artificial food colorings to make it look like the real thing. It is NOT a health OK substitute.)

The good news is that other wild caught fish such as sardines, cod, and herring are just as good for you if not more so than salmon.

Plus, foods like shrimp, scallops, prawns and foods like clams and oysters that are sustainably harvested from unpolluted waters are also good choices. (Some people are allergic to shrimp, scallops, prawns. But if you aren’t, they are great high protein, low calorie foods that also have omega 3 oils. So are clams and oysters.)

4. Avocados are a number one superfood. They have abundant fiber and health OK oils & taste good. They also have more natural vitamin E than most E supplements plus carotenes and vitamin C and other vitamins and minerals. Even better, the guacamole made from avocados is just as good for you.

5. Whey protein supplements are a great way to get very concentrated protein of quality nearly as good as egg protein. Jarrow sells a version with no stevia or other sweeteners.

Egg white protein supplements are equally good for similar reasons.

6. This article doesn’t list raw and dry roasted nuts with no salt added. But they are also extremely nutritious and health supportive if you aren’t allergic to them. They have health OK oils and tend to increase your HDL level while lowering your LDL level. Lastly, by having essentially a zero glycemic index and having protein, oils, AND fiber they turn off hunger extremely well. Almonds, walnuts, and pecans are particularly good choices -- though walnuts and pecans cost less now.

B. The other health OK oil is extra virgin olive oil.

People who use it or use it 95 % of the time, tend to have higher HDL and much lower LDL and far less omega 6 oils than people using butter or other oils.

C. The third major category of fat loss supporting foods – NOT listed in the ETR article – is all nonstarchy vegetables and spices based on real plants.

These foods have abundant nutrition, water, and fiber – even some protein. They have so few calories or carbs and they release them so slowly they approach having a net of zero calories or carbs in their effects on your body.

In addition, you can often get these foods that have been organically grown. The organically grown ones have nearly twice the nutrients and more than twice the ability to support your health as those grown with pesticides etc.

However, the vegetables that are “conventionally” grown cost less; are more available; don’t have that much pesticide residue usually; & they support fat loss just as well.

Raw broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, cabbage, water cress, and kale all are nonstarchy vegetables that strongly prevent cancer.

Cooked by steaming or in water you also drink, they are less cancer preventive but still have many nutrients. In fact, by cooking them and serving them with extra virgin olive oil, you get MORE of the carotenoids in them. And when cooked that way they also support fat loss. Cooked Brussels sprouts also work.

Tomatoes also are good for you both raw and when cooked into tomato sauce with extra virgin olive oil.

Asparagus, green beans, romaine lettuce, chard, mustard greens, and other darker greens also work.

Vegetable juices also work for fat loss -- although the unsalted ones are best for your health.

So do garlic, onions, basil, sage, thyme, and all the other flavored plants and the spices based on them.

With these vegetables, you can literally eat all you want and still not be fat.

With the first two groups, you do need to avoid huge amounts. But with these vegetables and the salads and savory cooked dishes made from them you can eat a lot more without slowing your fat loss or gaining any fat.

D. All beans are high in fiber and protein while being quite inexpensive.

It is best to eat them with some of the health OK proteins and oils since they do have some faster carbs and a low moderate glycemic index instead of an extremely low one as the other foods here do.

But there is one superfood star in this group, lentils. Lentils have more protein and a lower glycemic index than other beans.

If you add some regular exercise to eating these four kinds of foods, you can get away with some regular consumption of fresh fruit; and you may be able to occasionally have some whole grain foods and even some rare sweet treats. The secret to eating those is to ONLY have them AFTER you have one of the health OK protein foods or health OK oils and to eat small amounts.