Achieving a flat stomach is not an easy task, but there are certain foods, that could actually help you lose stomach fat. According to a round up by the Daily Mail, blueberries, kiwifruit and leafy greens could help you shift unwanted weight, while Elle Magazine champions the fat burning potential of citrus.
Blueberries
Already regarded as a 'superfood' because of their high vitamin and antioxidant content, the berries may also have the power to trim excess fat from our bodies.
Experts in the U.S. carried out a study into the berries' health benefits and believe they may change the way we process fat and sugar in our diet.
Researchers found that if the animals were given meals enriched with blueberries, they lost fat from their stomachs.
Kiwis
Kiwis contain twice as much vitamin C as oranges, more fibre than apples and as much vitamin E as an avocado. All this for less than 50 calories.
This combination of antioxidant vitamins will discourage cancer-producing cells and boost immunity. Kiwis also supply a good amount of potassium, important for maintaining healthy blood pressure and normal heart function.
They also contain arabinogalactans, which is a plant-based fibre and prebiotic that feeds that friendly bacteria in your gut to help boost metabolism.
Leafy greens
It's a no brainer that dark, leafy vegetables are powerhouses thanks to their dense nutritional content but Russell Bateman, says that they'll significantly help reduce stomach fat.
He explained: 'Eat high quality protein and low-carb vegetables at every meal. This means high quality fish and meat from farmers markets or organic. These contain the greatest array of amino acids per calorie so as to provide the largest nutritional punch possible.
'Studies have shown that when people receive 10 essential amino acids per meal they reduce body fat significantly.
'Low-carb vegetables such as broccoli, spinach and kale - all leafy greens - are going to be your main carb go-to foods for tummy fat loss.'
Citrus
A new study out of the Spanish Foundation For Science And Technology analysed the role of p-synephrine (a compound found in low concentrations in many citrus fruits, including oranges, mandarins, and grapefruit) in burning fat during both rest and exercise – a process we haven't known a great deal about up to this point.
"There is very little scientific information on this substance's effects on metabolism and the oxidation of energy substrates during exercise or on the side effects of the continued consumption of this substance," lead author Juan Del Coso told SINC.
The reason they were looking at it is because p-synephrine is widely used in weight loss products and food supplements for the way it stimulates adrenaline production with few side effects.
Data collected by the research team showed that the compound had essentially increased the participants maximum fat-burning capacity, meaning they could essentially burn more fat than they could before.
While they're very clear about the fact that there's no such thing as a "miracle diet", Del Coso's team speculated that, based on the data, such supplements could effectively see users burning up to 42g of fat per hour of exercise in the best-case scenario.
More realistically speaking, Del Coso said we could expect to lose 200-300g of fat per week, or a little over 1kg per month when exercise is supplemented with p-syneprhine.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk, www.elle.com.au
