Skip to content

Top Navigation

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Recipes
  • Cooking 101
  • Eating Smart
  • Healthy Living
  • News

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Email Preferences

Manage Your Subscription

  • All Access Subscribers
  • Magazine Subscribers
  • Cooking Light Diet Subscribers
Login
Logout
SUBSCRIBE
Pin FB

Explore Cooking Light

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 31-Day Healthy Meal Plan

      Our 31-day calendar of meals and tips shows you how to cook more and love it with fun, family-friendly meals that come together quickly and deliciously. Read More
    • Dinner Tonight: Quick and Healthy Menus in 45 Minutes (or Less)

      Hundreds of delicious recipes, paired with simple sides, that can be on your table in 45 minutes or less. Read More
    • Our Favorite Healthy Air Fryer Recipes

      Who ever said that chicken wings, doughnuts, and pizza couldn't be healthy? Read More
  • Recipes

    Recipes

    See All Recipes
    • Breakfast & Brunch
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Drinks
    • Recipe Makeovers
    • Quick & Healthy
    • Diabetic
    • Gluten-Free
    • Vegetarian
    • Cooking Light Live
  • Cooking 101

    Cooking 101

    See All Cooking 101
    • Essential Ingredients
    • Cooking Techniques
    • Meet the Chef
    • Cooking Resources
    • Budget Friendly
    • Smart Choices
  • Eating Smart
  • Healthy Living

    Healthy Living

    See All Healthy Living
    • Weight-Loss
    • Health
    • Fitness
    • Home
    • Travel
    • Nutrition 101
  • News

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Email Preferences

Manage Your Subscription

  • All Access Subscribers
  • Magazine Subscribers
  • Cooking Light Diet Subscribers
Login
Logout
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Eating Smart
  3. 5 Foods that Fight Fat

5 Foods that Fight Fat

August 15, 2012
Skip gallery slides
Pin
Get the skinny on these five foods that burn extra calories and keep you feeling fuller longer. By Julie Upton, MS, RD.
Start Slideshow

1 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Best Fat Fighting Foods

Credit: Photo: © Jamie Grill/Tetra Images/Corbis
A calorie is a calorie—except when you’re trying to lose weight. The foods you choose to eat can make or break a diet. Lucky for you, nutrition research now shows that some foods can help you whittle your middle by keeping you full longer and raising your body’s metabolism so you burn more calories. Get your skinny jeans ready: These five foods will make you feel fuller without the added bulk.

1 of 6

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Berries

Red raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries are fiber-rich fruits with just 50 calories per cup. They’re also among the most antioxidant-rich foods you can eat. Preliminary research shows that berries may contain certain flavonoids that increase production of adiponectin, a hormone that stimulates fat burning. In addition, eating strawberries with meals has been shown to help stabilize blood sugar and insulin levels and decrease markers of inflammation and LDL cholesterol. Top cereal or yogurt with berries, or try them in this zesty, minty treat.

View Recipe: Summer Berry Medley with Limoncello and Mint  

 

2 of 6

3 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Eggs

To combat cravings and control hunger all day, a protein-rich breakfast of eggs is key.  A large egg provides 6 grams of protein and just 70 calories. If you’re really looking to cut back, an egg white has just 30 calories and 3.5 grams of protein and no fat.

New research found that dieters who eat more protein earlier in the day lost more weight, were less hungry, and were more satisfied with their diet. In another study, dieters who ate an egg breakfast instead of a bagel meal lost 65% more weight and belly fat. Try loading morning eggs with veggies like in the recipe below.

3 of 6

Advertisement

4 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Greek Yogurt

Nonfat plain Greek yogurt is one of the most diet-friendly foods you can eat. Greek yogurt has twice as much satisfying protein and half the sugar of regular yogurt.  One study reported that when dieters upped their protein by 15%, they ate up to 441 less calories per day.  Another study found that dieters who included 24 ounces of fat free yogurt daily shed 81% more belly fat. Try your hand at creating your own toppings for Greek yogurt or try the recipe below.

 

4 of 6

5 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Green and Oolong Tea 

Coffee is known to boost your metabolism but tea offers a double-whammy; the caffeine and unique catechins in tea help to rev up your metabolism and boost fat burning. Research shows that drinking tea will provide a slight boost to your metabolic rate and increase fat burning more effectively than if you had caffeine alone.  Since tea is calorie-free and antioxidant-rich, choosing it instead of other sugary beverages will provide an extra diet advantage. For the best results, drink plain green or oolong tea several times a day.  Green tea is great iced or hot, and with fresh herbs, like the minty recipe below.

 

 

5 of 6

6 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

In-Shell Pistachios

In-shell pistachios are a good low-cal source of protein, with a filling 6 grams of protein per ounce and only 100 calories per 30-nut serving. Researchers at Eastern Illinois University reported that eating in-shell pistachios resulted in eating 41% less calories compared to those who ate shelled nuts. The logic is that the nuts’ shell helps to trick the brain into thinking that you’ve eaten more than you actually have. For a super satisfying snack that won’t weigh you down, keep a bag of these unshelled nuts handy.

6 of 6

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 6 Best Fat Fighting Foods
    2 of 6 Berries
    3 of 6 Eggs
    4 of 6 Greek Yogurt
    5 of 6 Green and Oolong Tea 
    6 of 6 In-Shell Pistachios

    Share & More

    Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message
    Cooking Light

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Customer Service this link opens in a new tab
    • Advertise
    • Content Licensing
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    MeredithCooking Light is part of the Allrecipes Food Group. © Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Cooking Light may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Cooking Light. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.cookinglight.com

    View image

    5 Foods that Fight Fat
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.