14 Highly Useful Foods That Burn Belly Fat Quickly

Before learning about foods to eat to lose belly fat in the stomach or workouts to burn belly fat, it is important for you to know why reducing belly fat is so important.

14 Foods That Burn Belly Fat Fast

Certain foods can help you burn your belly fat; however, each has a different method. 

• Fruits: The antioxidants and fiber in fruits help with digestion, increasing metabolism, and fat burn
• Pulses: The protein in pulses is necessary for building muscles. In the presence of protein, the body will use them and build muscles. This process requires energy, facilitating fat loss
• Fish: You can also get proteins from fish; however, they also contain omega-3, which helps reduce inflammation. Low inflammation will increase metabolism, increasing fat loss
• Almonds: Because of their healthy fat and protein contents, almonds can make you feel full. Hence, you can avoid undesirable cravings for high-glycaemic foods
• Beans and Legumes: Beans and legumes also help in fat burning because of the proteins in them. These proteins trigger the body to repair tissues and build muscles, which require energy. Thus, facilitating weight loss
• Spinach and Green Vegetables: Spinach and green vegetables have dietary fibres and antioxidants, helping in reducing inflammation and increasing metabolism
• Dairy Products: These can help you remain satisfied for a long time, reducing your cravings. Thus, you can see they are beneficial when cutting calories
• Peanut butter: Peanut butter is another food that can regulate your hunger pangs. They contain enough dietary fibre that makes you feel full; however, ensure that you don’t consume peanut butter in excess as they have high calories
• Whole Grains: Foods like millet, quinoa, and brown rice, also contain dietary fibres that help you curb hunger
• Yogurt: Yogurt is incredibly helpful, especially during the summer months. It reduces inflammation and acts against acidity. Eating non-fat yoghurt can also help you in reducing belly fat by improving your overall digestion
• Oatmeal: Having oatmeal for breakfast can help you lose weight significantly. It is rich in fibre and carbohydrates. That makes you feel full and gives you enough energy throughout the day. It also curbs the hunger pangs that you get through the day
• Chia seeds: Chia seeds are staple ingredient for most salads and smoothies. They are rich in fibre and antioxidants. Chia seeds also reduce inflammation and improve your digestion
• Raspberries: Raspberries have polyphenols like anthocyanins and fibres, these aid in improving your bowel movement. Eating raspberries with your breakfast will make you feel satiated enough throughout the day 
• Spicy chilli: Chillies that have a hot and spicy flavour increase the heat in your body and improve the metabolic rate of your body. This way, you digest food a lot sooner, lessening the chance of accumulating visceral fat

Why Belly Fat is Dangerous

Not all fat in your body is the same, and belly fat or visceral fat is one of the most harmful fats. This fat occupies the space around your intestines and stomach and pads abdominals organs. It releases toxins and biochemicals such as cytokines that cause or increase the probability of problems such as:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Type 2 diabetes
• Hormonal imbalance
• Strokes
• High Blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Insulin resistance
• Inflammation that increases risk of cancer in colon and pancreas

Thus, it is better to have fatty deposits all over your body than concentrated around your belly. However, this is easier said than done. Belly fat reduction requires disciplined effort that goes beyond just doing the best exercises to lose stomach fat. Diet is also a crucial part of the journey, and while there are special foods that burn belly fat, employing a holistic approach generally delivers longer-lasting results.

How to Lose Belly Fat in Lockdown?

You may have noticed that you and/or those around you are gaining weight quite rapidly during the lockdown. While it is too early to study this phenomenon, experts around the world suggest that reduced physical activity due to staying indoors, eating ultra-processed food at home, and high anxiety have caused significant number of people to add on the kilos during this time.

The first step to fixing this problem is acknowledging it and looking for a lifetime solution rather than following a fad diet for losing belly fat. Start by changing your sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits and then look to develop smart strategies that will help you keep belly fat at bay throughout your life.

Before jumping into workouts to burn belly fat, it is important that you have the right foundation in place. The calories you consume through the day serve as fuel and will ultimately determine whether you shed fat or not. For starters, identify a calorie counter that is easy to use and enter data regarding your height, weight, age, sex, and activity levels. Based on these, you will get an estimated number of calories for weight loss, weight maintenance or weight gain. Start by noting the number of calories you’d need for weight loss, given your current health profile and draft up a meal plan that fits.

Here, the best approach to consume valuable calories is to switch to a low-carb, high protein diet. This lowers your calorie intact drastically and reduce your hungers levels too. What’s more, cutting carbohydrates from your meals also lowers insulin levels. This helps reduce bloating and unnecessary water weight. On the other hand, consuming protein complements this goal to lose weight. Proteins are one of the best foods to reduce belly fat as they keep your fuller for longer and increase your calorie expenditure. In fact, khichdi is a protein-rich meal popular in Indian households, with a complete nutrient profile that is essential for burning belly fat.

High-fibre foods are generally denser and keep you full for longer, which makes them ideal foods to reduce belly fat. This helps you deal with unhealthy eating habits, which are generally responsible for weight gain. For instance, adding legumes like split peas and mung beans, nuts and whole grains like barley and bulgur wheat to your diet is a great choice.

Moreover, high fibre foods like avocados are rich in soluble fibre, which improve gut bacteria that reduce belly fat.

Avoid Refined Sugars

Food with high sugar content is responsible for fat storage. Moreover, refined sugars are high in calories and have very little nutritional value to offer. Further, a rise in blood glucose from consuming sugar-rich food triggers a spike in insulin levels to efficiently utilise this glucose. Over time, your body develops insulin resistance and starts to store it as visceral fat or belly fat.

This has further health complications and the best way to counteract it is to cut out refined sugars. These include high-fructose corn syrup, glucose and sucrose that are present in processed foods like cereal and snacks, readymade sauces, and pastries and cakes. In contrast, natural sugars from fruits form a part of balanced diet as they are necessary for the release of opioids and dopamine, both of which play an important role in normal function of the body. For instance, using homemade date syrup is a smart way to sweeten desserts and shakes without relying on white sugar.

Incorporate Exercise with Weight Training

For a slimmer waist, you must exercise to lose belly fat and this typically involves cardio activities, which is called aerobic exercise, paired with weight training, also called strength or resistance training. Including both these types of workout is the key to reducing belly fat as per a study by Johns Hopkins. However, the same research also found that doing moderate exercise like a brisk walk of 30 minutes 6 days a week also helps in preventing belly fat build-up. If your goal is to lose belly fat, simply add more time to your walks rather than increasing the intensity. While there are many fat burning exercises for women and men to help reduce abdominal fat, make sure that you do not overdo; rather, try to create a workout plan that you can be regular with.

Add Caffeine to Your Routine

Caffeine is known to boost concentration and energy levels when consumed. To add to these perks, it is also a potent tool in weight loss as it is known to increase metabolism by up to 11%. What’s more, when taken in moderation, caffeine can also help your endurance, which is key to exercising effectively to lose belly fat.