I can't argue that some foods may help because I'm no expert. But I personally believe that no one food "speeds" or "encourages" fat loss more than any other. If you restrict calories and/or exercise, you'll lose fat, regardless of what you eat.
And I TOTALLY disagree with the low-carb diet thing. Not only is an extremely low-carb diet dangerous, the most you lose is water. And muscle. Not fat.
It all depends on people. For some of them it works, for other it doesn't. Cold water speeds up your metabolism ( but not as much as weight training) so it works. Calcium plays a role in weight loss, so you must eat it, but doen'st mean eating a ton of milk. Green tea is supposed to work but only if you eat more than ten cups of tea a day. I would suggest that you take green tea pills which are concentrated a lot with green tea.
It all depends on people. For some of them it works, for other it doesn't. Cold water speeds up your metabolism ( but not as much as weight training) so it works. Calcium plays a role in weight loss, so you must eat it, but doen'st mean eating a ton of milk. Green tea is supposed to work but only if you eat more than ten cups of tea a day. I would suggest that you take green tea pills which are concentrated a lot with green tea.
This is not meant to be a slam, but is more curiosity. I hear so many claims on this site, and I often wonder where they come from. What's the evidence that cold water speeds metabolism? (I've never heard that one before.) Does green tea REALLY work? For what? And if it does something, would taking pills work the same way?
I hear a lot of info about how low carb diets are supposed to work, but from what I understand, despite their claims they work the way most plans do: calories in lower than calories out.
This is not meant to be a slam, but is more curiosity. I hear so many claims on this site, and I often wonder where they come from. What's the evidence that cold water speeds metabolism? (I've never heard that one before.)
I've heard this one before, several times. And this is what they claim (which, oddly, if you think about it makes sense):
When you drink really cold water, your body has to work a little harder to 'metabolize' it to bring it back down to normal body temperature. This is why they say to drink a glass of ice water [approx. 1/2 hour] before meals because your metabolism will already be in high gear from working to 'warm up' the ice cold water; therefore more of your calories from the meal will be burned up in the process.
Now, this is what they claim. Whether or not it's true or whether or not I believe it is something else entirely. Honestly, I've never really given it much thought.
Linda -- Thanks for the explanation. It does make sense, but then, many things make sense that end up not being true...
I think if I had it to do over again, I would suck it up and take more bio and chem classes back in college. I really do wish I understood this stuff better. Tho, I have a friend and colleague who is a chemist and teaches nutrition, and sometimes I just ask her these questions to get more of a scientific explanation, but tailored for a non-scientist.
About the green tea..that works as a diruetic. You lose water weight. Also, lots of green teas are caffienated, making them stimulants. I've found that green tea gives me the energy of coffee, but not the jitters that too much can do sometimes.
But why wouldn't cold ice tea or diet coke work the same as cold water? It's raised your metabolism because your body is having to warm the water but couldn't the same be said for anything cold?
Green tea does boost your metablism. But it would make absolutly no difference really. If i remember it only makes you burn up to like 20 calories more a day (and that's an absolute max). It is still really healthy for you for other reasons though
But why wouldn't cold ice tea or diet coke work the same as cold water? It's raised your metabolism because your body is having to warm the water but couldn't the same be said for anything cold?
From what I've read (if it's true), drinking 8 glasses of very cold water per day can burn an additional 70 calories. Over the course of 365 days, that would equal 7 pounds of fat, providing you stuck to it 8 times a day every day.
I drink filtered water that I keep in the fridge, though not for weight loss. I think it tastes a lot better cold so I'm more likely to drink more of it.
I walk around all day long with a glass of ice water. In fact it's the first thing I do in the morning after my usual bathroom ritual, I go straight to the fridge and get my ice from the dispenser, then fill up my glass with ice-cold water (I've got a water tap I keep in the fridge because I like my water COLD) and refill it all day long.
I really have no idea exactly how much water I drink, I've never really kept track. I just drink it because I love it. Everywhere I go I gotta have my water. I buy the single-serve bottled waters and keep one filled up in the fridge at all times and grab it and take it with me when I leave the house.
I have done exensive research on green tea in university and here it is...... it is the caffeine in the green tea that affects your body, thats all. Its the same thing as caffeinated coffee and coke. A lot of diet pills now use green tea extract as a caffeine source since ephedrine is banned in so many places. The thing is you would have to have about 800-900 mg of green tea extract a day to notice any difference - that would be like drininking 15 or more teas a day just for it to have any effect on your body. And the difference you would see would be you would have more energy. THe green tea itself does not burn fat.
And the note that drinking cold water or cold fluids burns fat better than room temp is an old wives tale. There is no hard core evidence that this is true
Foods that May Aid in Fat Loss
