To supplement your hardcore (or moderate) exercise regimen and to get the most benefit in the way you look and feel, it’s important to eat right. It’s the old mantra ‘diet plus exercise’ that puts you on the path to your ideal fit look. By Gavin Watterson.
Whether you want to get fit for a 10k fun-run or plan to try out for your country’s Olympic weightlifting team, or simply just want to look good at the beaches and on the dance floors, your exercise regimen is obviously important.
However, some people train hard and see only marginal benefits to their actual fitness. That’s because they are not eating the “natural super-foods” that get you in great shape.
Here is a list of the best foods to supplement alongside your training program, which will maximize calorie-burning and nutrient intake.
Capsaicin
This is just one of many examples of an ingredient within food that gives it a kick. Found in varieties of peppers, horseradish, curry powders, these wonderful super-foods can raise the metabolism by as much as 50 percent for a couple of hours after eating them.
So, opt for a meal with a hot kick this surprising little tip can work wonders for the reduction of stubborn fat areas providing your body fat level is low enough to notice.
Grapefruit
Hard to find in many areas of the tropics, these contain certain enzymes and amino acids known to help break down, dissolve and disperse fats. Interestingly, another reason why the grapefruit is helpful in weight loss is due to its sparing or buffering action with certain other compounds.
The bitter taste of grapefruit is caused by something called Naringin, which works to promote fat loss by slowing down the break down (half-life) of stimulants like caffeine in the liver.
There was an old-school bodybuilding diet of coffee and grapefruit for breakfast, which now seems to be perfectly legitimate now that modern scientists have confirmed the principles behind it.
Pineapple
These contain an enzyme called bromelain. This significant enzyme has been discovered to burn up many times its weight in fat. It is high in manganese—an important mineral for the body’s muscle tone and nerve and bone health.
Bromelain is also an antioxidant and natural anti-inflammatory with many health benefits also to help the immune system with healing. This enzyme encourages the break down of amino acid bonds in proteins, which promotes good digestion, which is why you see it served in restaurants where a lot of meat is on the menu.
Make sure you always eat fresh pineapple as most of the bromelain in canned pineapple is destroyed due to the heat used in the canning process.
Coconut Oil
This is known as a medium chain tri-glyceride oil, which means it has a type of fat that is quickly used as energy rather than stored. It’s a great calorie-dense source of fuel. It has antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral and antioxidant properties.
With it being a saturated fat, it is “stable” when heated so is great to cooking with and will not transform into a toxic fat like certain fats/oils can when heated. From a teaspoon to a few tablespoons are recommended daily in cooking, salads, smoothies or like I sometimes do as a “shot” of oil.
‘Negative Calorie foods’
These are things like raw vegetables, salads and live foods that promote gastric juices to aid digestion. Foods like this will actually use more energy to break them down than they give us, so they are deemed “negative-calorie foods.”
Organic and raw foods have higher vitamin and mineral content along with important enzymes to boost internal and cellular health. You should try to eat as much of your vegetables (even most meats) as raw as possible.
Raw foods
As mentioned above, it’s good to eat as much of your food as raw as possible, as this helps bolster health, improve immunities and general health. This is really due to the fact you are consuming “live active” enzymes within the foods themselves.
These help fortify your body with active catalytic substances that help break down food, allow greater digestion and assimilation of what you eat. The less tainted any food you eat is, the greater or better it is for your body because, among other things, key enzymes are destroyed above 110°C.
Organic foods
Much the same goodness as raw foods, if they are also organically grown/produces it is even better, because it reduces the toxic load on the body. Simply put, food that is not organic, usually is loaded with toxic waste from pesticides and whatnot—not the sort of stuff you want to put in your body when you art trying to get fit.
Organic food also have higher vitamin, mineral and nutrient content. All of which promotes a more balanced, less stressed body
More fit foods
Other foods that we will explore in a later column that will be devoted to detox-related fitness regimes include: garlic, ginger, turmeric, apple cider vinegar, psyllium husks and kelp/seaweed.
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