Spice It to Rev Up
Your Metabolism for Weight Loss
Weight loss is not as simple as a lot
of slim folks make out to be.
It does, however, takes a lot of
knowledge and a huge and tremendous amount of willpower.
Helper Foods
One of the best things you can do
to jump start your diet is to figure out which foods are helpers and can give you the extra boost you need along
with your willpower. Spices and spicy foods can be one of those helpers for weight loss.
Spicy Stuff
If you are one who likes a little zip
with your meals, you are in luck because there is growing evidence that spices can help your weight loss by
enhancing your metabolism.
Although it is not obvious as to how
spicy foods can boost your metabolism, there have been studies that show there is a common element in many of these
different metabolism boosting spices. It is Capsaicin. It can actually create heat and raise the temperature of
your body so that you burn more calories.
How to Spice Up
Before tipping the cayenne pepper
shaker, though, you should be careful when adding these new spicy foods to your diet.
With adding spicy items to your diet,
it may increase stomach problems and acid reflux, so you should start with just a small amount. Once you understand
how your body reacts to each food, you will have a better idea of what is most ideal for your
meals.
When incorporating the element of
spices to your weight loss plan, the best time to do this is around noon.
Benefits Beyond Weight Loss
There
are a few additional health benefits that come along with indulging in spicy foods.
If you add a little bit of cayenne
pepper or anything hot to your lunch, it will help you stay alert and awake as well as help you with any grogginess
that is normally felt after you eat.
The added benefit of this is that this
additional wakefulness will help you to keep moving around and in turn, burn more calories.
There have been studies suggesting
that people that consume a large amount of these foods have a lower likelihood of brain and nervous system
complications.
Spicy foods can also help with chronic
migraines and have been linked to aiding in lowering depression.
Myths
On the flip side, there have also been
rumors that spicy foods can cause ulcers, however this is not the case. Ulcers may be irritated when you are
digesting a large amount of these foods, but they are not the main cause.
Other Spices
Cayenne pepper is not the only spice
to help rev things up; there are numerous dried spices that can be incorporated into meals to help aid weight
loss.
Some of them are black pepper, mustard
seed and ginger. If you add any of these dry spices to your dishes, it will add a kick and also help you lose
weight more quickly.
When you know the weight loss helper
spices and foods, and how they work to enhance your food and metabolism, you can make more informed decisions
about when to add these foods to your meal plan for your weight loss goals.
Although
studies have not absolutely proven these theories, there is a definite connection between eating spicy foods and
weight loss.
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