We all know guys who go the extra mile in the gym every day but still can’t get the six-pack. Because, did you know, before hitting the gym, your abs-sculpting activity actually starts in the kitchen.
Burning calories and toning your muscle are important, but all of that would be for nothing if your diet is not on point. With the right choice and amount food, that’s when they’ll support weight loss and increase fat burning.
Given some of the common diet knowledge, here some of the foods you might miss out or may have not known would quickly help you get a six-pack:
1. Egg
Did you know that an omelet is a great booster before a workout? Apart from packed with with protein, eggs also contain a nutrient called choline that boosts your metabolism and may help turn off the genes responsible for belly fat storage. According to a study in the “International Journal of Obesity”, eating eggs for breakfast instead of a high-carb dish like whole-wheat makes losing weight and abs-shredding easier. For maximizing eggs’ abs-sculpting potential, a few hard boiled egg as an afternoon snack is your way to go.
2. Canola Oil
It’s common that people choose olive oil to add to their diet plan instead of canola. But a research done by Penn State professor of nutrition Penny M. Kris-Etherton suggested that the “monounsaturated fats” found in canola oil can decrease abdominal fat—and works better than olive oil. Kris-Etherton gathered 101 participants who were obese or had increasing weight and gave them a specific amount of canola oil to incorporate into their diets everyday, which after a month had about a quarter pound less belly fat than they did before the diet began. While canola oil can’t spot-target fat reduction, Kris-Etherton says in a press release, “monounsaturated fatty acids seem to specifically target abdominal fat,” so it’s worth a try.
3. Bananas
Apart from apple, banana is another essential fruit that would help in uncovering your abs. A lethal weapon to fight bloated belly, it increases bacteria in the stomach that reduces gas build-up. It also contains all the potassium you need to cut down on water retention. One Anaerobe study found that women who ate a banana twice daily as a pre-meal snack for 60 days reduced their belly-bloat by 50 percent. Be it eaten during breakfast on your oatmeal or made as a pre- or post-workout snack; bananas will surely get rid of a bloated belly that could cover even the most toned abs.
4. Split pea
Another key to seek and destroy those belly fat is fiber. A big bowl of split pea would provide all your fiber needs. According to Kristen Hairston, M.D., people wouldn’t have to make any dietary change and build up less fat around the abdominal cavity by eating 10 grams of soluble fiber a day. Split peas contain 16.3 grams of fiber per cup which is more than enough to fulfill the fiber needs that Hairston suggests.
5. Hot Pepper
Good news for spicy food and hot sauce lovers! Chili peppers is great for helping blast away belly fat. Peppers are in general known to boost up your metabolism. Author of The Vegiterranean Diet Julieanna Hever tells that hot peppers contain a compound known as capsaicin, which not only help you feel more satisfied after eating. According to a review by International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, capsaicin in peppers helps you burn more fat by improving your body’s control of insulin.
6. Tea
This may not be considered a food, but tea—especially green and black tea—is the perfect liquid diet intake for quickly shaping those abs. Largely thanks to the presence of catechins like epigallocatechin gallate, a compound shown to increase the number of calories burned throughout the day, green tea has the potential to speed up weight loss and fat burning. One the other hand, black tea is also rich in flavonoid compounds that can be an alternative option to help stimulate weight loss.
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