High thermic foods can be the key to your weight loss. Identifying the best plan for weight loss can be challenging. Are you tired of dieting and working out to see minimal to no change whatsoever? Low metabolism or lack of high thermic foods can be the problem. In fact, metabolism is the biggest culprit why an average Joe barely gains weight after months of shoving doughnuts. While you on the other hand gains a pound from looking at a doughnut.
A fast metabolic rate can speed up converting food to energy. This reduces the risk of obesity and other bodyweight issues. Here, is an overview of the thermic effect of food as well as high thermic foods to improve your metabolism.
Here is a complete guide on the high thermic foods to boost your metabolism! At the end of this article, get a downloadable high thermic foods list to craft a metabolism boosting diet.
The Thermic Effect of Food Explained
The thermic effect of food refers to the response of the metabolic rate to at which your body burns calories when food is ingested. When you eat any food, your body must use some amount of energy to digest, absorb, and store the nutrients you have just consumed. So as a result of the thermic effect of food, your metabolism actually increases slightly to burn the calories you eat.
On average, about 5-10% of the calories ingested are burned as a result of the thermic effect of foods. That means for example if 500 calories are consumed, between 25 and 50 calories will be burned by your body to digest, absorb, and store the nutrients from the food. Thinking about a full day of eating, if you are eating 1500 calories per day, 75 – 100 calories will be burned due to the thermic effect of food.
Use this thermic effect calculator below to determine the thermic effect of the foods you consume. The easiest way to use the calculator is to input calories (kCal) amounts.
What are High Thermic Foods?
High thermic foods, also known as diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT) or specific dynamic action (SDA), help to burn off the calories you consume through heat. They are not only used to provide energy to the body but plays a big role in regulating the digesting, absorbing and metabolizing process to make it some of the must-eat foods to incorporate into your regular diet.
However, not all foods come with a high thermic effect. While you can use a general rule of 5-10% of calories contributing to the thermic effect of food, there are estimates for the individual macronutrient groups (fat, carbohydrates, and protein). Fat is believed to have the lowest thermic effect of only 0 to 3%, while carbohydrates have about 5 to 10%. As a general rule of thumb, protein comes with the highest thermic effect of 20 to 30% to help burn fat the most effectively.
This means foods don’t just directly burn fat. Instead, it’s the energy stores that help speed up the digestion and absorbing process to aid fat burn and high thermic foods are known to shed that fat faster than any other kind of food.
High Thermic Foods
It is no secret that some people manage to lose weight faster than others. The best part? There is no rocket science behind it!
As long as you have your fundamentals straight and consume fewer calories than you burn, you are set to shed some solid pounds every week. However, keep in mind that all calories are not created equal. This is obvious from the different thermic effects of fats, carbohydrates, and protein. However, there is a way you can satisfy your taste buds, all while making sure you don’t gain a tremendous amount of weight. You can construct a meal plan of high thermic foods to give you a significant boost in fat burning.
Here are some of the groups high thermic foods to help you boost metabolism and make your journey towards weight loss more enjoyable. You can download our printable pdf of list of 100 high thermic foods to use to create the ultimate fat burning diet.
1. High-Fiber Foods: Carb High Thermic Foods
Foods with high fiber are considered high thermic foods. The best way to incorporate high fiber foods into your diet is to remove unrefined grains and replace them with fiber rich foods to ensure you are making the most of the perks of each of these foods and boosting up the metabolism.
Not just that, high fiber foods have the potential to lower cholesterol levels, control blood sugar levels and improve overall liver health. These foods include:
- Berries
- Artichokes
- Beets
- Mangoes
- Pears
- Brussels sprouts
- Avocados
- Pistachios
- Chickpeas
- Almonds
2. Lean Meat or Plant-based Proteins
Highest qualities, organic lean meat makes up most of the high thermic foods you can find. These protein sources offer a high thermic effect as well as keeping you feeling full. So not only does it help you extract the most amount of minerals and nutrients out of your regular food, but it can also reduce your daily intake of meals as well by reducing your appetite.
However, if you are vegan, plant-based protein can also do wonders yielding the same perks and utilizing more energy while digesting it. Here are some of the lean meat or plant-based proteins you should add to your regular meals:
- Lean meat (chicken, turkey, beef)
- Tofu
- Mycoprotein
- Beans
- Quinoa
- Peanuts
- Lentils
- Dairy
3. Wild-caught seafood
The high protein concentration in wild-caught seafood makes up an excellent source for increasing the thermic effect in boosting energy production during the digestion process. In addition, these omega fatty acids-rich foods are also known for improving thyroid hormones.
That’s not it; seafood can play a huge role in enhancing the hepatic mitochondrial enzyme involved in thermogenesis.
4. Eggs
Here comes the favorite of most protein obsessed healthy and bodybuilders enthusiasts. Eggs are most certainly on the list of high thermic foods. Hard-boiled alone comes with 6.29 grams of protein to make it an ideal way to speed up your metabolism and get effective results in a few weeks.
It is easier to digest and uses its energy expenditure to arm your body up for digesting other less thematic foods. This way, you can make a difference in your life by simply adding a few eggs to your daily diet.
5. Flaxseeds: Protein High Thermic Foods
Flaxseeds are packed with vitamins, proteins and other key nutrients to help make them one of the most functional foods to improve food digestion in your body. But, that’s not it; these seeds are an exceptional way to heal other health conditions like cardiovascular diseases, obesity and diabetes.
If you think that’s enough, wait till you find out what else it can do for your health:
- Autoimmune diseases
- Cancer
- Osteoporosis
- Arthritis
- Neurological disorders
- Prevents constipation
Here are more benefits of flax seed.
6. Brazil Nuts
Brazil nuts are armed with essential minerals required to speed up your metabolism. They also help maintain the healthy content of fat in your system. Like other proteins, this nut also ensures to keep you feeling full for long periods of time. This prevents the nightmares that come with midnight overeating.
The selenium present is significant for the thyroid gland to regulate metabolic function and offers a recommended dietary allowance of 55 mcg per day.
Research has also proved that Brazil nuts can also aid the cholesterol levels of healthy people. This makes it a great way to help you in your journey to improve your metabolic rate.
Other benefits of Brazil nuts include:
- Reduces inflammation
- Great for heart diseases
- Aid Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases
- Lower blood sugar levels
7. Chili pepper
Eating spicy foods like chili pepper is known for speeding up metabolism in your body. The main compound present, capsaicin, is responsible for weight management by reducing your appetite and increasing the speed at which your body burns fat.
In fact, a study published in 2012 indicated that consuming chili pepper can lead to burning extra 50 calories each day. These minor changes in your fat shedding rate can eventually add up to ensure you consume fewer calories than you burn.
It’s not that easy to jump into something this spicy to lose weight. Therefore, opt for foods that include sugars or honey to balance out too hot meals and make your fat loss process even more fun and scrumptious.
8. Coffee
Although coffee may not be the permanent way to boost metabolism, it can offer incredible short-term results to help you get started on this journey. What’s more, it is straightforward to include into your diet!
Drinking four cups of coffee every day has shown a 4% reduction in overall body fat due to fast metabolism. The antioxidants present will not just drive out the free radicals that make up the biggest culprit behind most body issues but also offer a myriad of beauty benefits.
However, to keep yourself in prime shape, you should equip yourself with other high thermic foods along with workouts to enhance the benefits of coffee.
Here is a simple workout to help burn fat.
https://www.libifit.com/simple-endomorph-workout-plan-to-reduce-belly-fat/
The only condition? To get the best results, it’s best to avoid adding sugar and cream to your coffee as it can add in a few extra calories to your regular cup of coffee. Another thing to bear in mind is the quantity you consume every day. In general, more than four cups of coffee can do more harm than good.
Apart from that, here are some of the other benefits of coffee that you may not be aware of:
- Stronger DNA
- Help process glucose (sugar) better
- Great for liver health
- Reduces chances of colon cancer
- Improve physical performance
9. Dark Leafy Greens
Who hasn’t heard of the benefits of leafy greens, right? But do you want what and how exactly it can help speed up your metabolism and thus weight loss?
The dark leafy greens contain high-fat burning capabilities to make it among the best thermic foods you can find.
Many fitness enthusiasts count on dark leafy greens to help improve proper blood circulation to provide better oxygen throughout the body. Some of these greens include:
- Collard greens
- Mustard leaves
- Arugula
- Swiss chard
- Dandelion greens
- Kale
- Turnip greens
- Beet greens
10. Broccoli
Lastly, is included in the group of high thermic foods. Broccoli is packed with glucoraphanin, which helps keep your metabolism retune to recover from all the effects poor eating habits have on your body. This can also play a large role in reducing weight gain due to age or diabetic factors that can eventually add to more health issues.
Be it raw, boiled, or roasted; there are countless ways you can spice up ordinary broccoli. It is a staple for many people in their weight loss process.
All in all, broccoli and other cruciferous veggies are responsible for maintaining a healthy digestive that involves preventing age-related diseases and slowing down many forms of cancer. Therefore, it is crucial to include broccoli in your everyday life.
Some other benefits of broccoli include:
- Great source of protein
- Packed with fiber
- Armed with vitamins
- Builds up folic acid
- Support healthy cells and tissues
- Aids constipation
100+ High Thermic Foods
Here is are table showing 100+ high thermic foods. You can download a free organized printable pdf file by entering your email address below. This file is formatted for easy navigation and use.
Conclusion
Now that you understand the thermic effect of food, and have seen groups of high thermic foods, you can create a fat burning diet. Eating foods from this list of high thermic foods will automatically rev up your metabolism.