by Kelley Herring
Wouldn’t it be nice to crank up the dial on your metabolism a notch? Well, you can!
Certain foods ratchet your metabolism into high gear, helping to burn more calories and give you more energy.
The best known of these thermogenic (fat-burning) foods is protein. That’s the reason high-protein diets promote weight loss. But there’s another food that has even more calorie-torching power than protein: coconut oil.
Medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), the unique fats found in coconut, are easily absorbed and rapidly burned as energy, stoking your metabolism. What’s more, coconut fats blaze through slower-burning long-chain triglyerides.
In a recent study, the thermogenic effect of a high-calorie diet containing 40 percent fat as MCFA was compared to one containing 40 percent fat as long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs). Researchers found the thermogenic effect of the MCFA was almost twice as high as the LCFA: 120 calories versus 66 calories. The researchers were so astounded, they conducted a follow-up study. This time, they found that MCFA given over a six-day period can increase diet-induced thermogenesis by 50 percent!
You can use coconut oil just like you would any other oil. Try whisking with raspberry vinegar for a luscious summer dressing, or lightly pan-frying wild fish and organic veggies for a metabolism-boosting treat.
Is Your Bad Gut Making You Fat?
Did you know that an imbalance in the flora in your gastrointestinal tract can promote weight gain? It's true! The flora – or natural bacteria and other organisms that reside inside of your gut – rely on you to feed them the right foods.
Learn how to get back to balance eating delicious, nutrient-packed foods in our latest e-Book, Your Body's Ecosystem.
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