Posted on August 27, 2016 by Jenny Cromack
If you’re wanting to lose weight and drop body fat then the maths are simple…..your energy expenditure needs to be greater than you calories you take in. You basically want to increase your metabolism and become and effective calorie burning machine!
Did you know that you can increase your calorie burn with whole foods? Eating whole foods is much better for your health and body composition than eating processed foods. One of the reasons is because eating whole foods increases your metabolisms and burns a lot more calories than processed foods. As processed foods have a lower nutritional content and have more additives and preservatives than whole foods they are easy for your body to digest so burn fewer calories during digestion.
Whole Foods
Whole foods are foods which are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed as little as possible. Examples include brown rice, quinoa, beans, fruit, veg and animal products that have not been effected by hormones.
Processed foods
These foods that have been processed and additives and preservatives added. Examples are breakfast cereals, cheese, bread, savoury snacks, such as crisps, meat products, such as packaged bacon, ”convenience foods”, such as microwave meals or ready meals and soft drinks.
If you eat 250 calories of processed food such as a pizza compared with 250 calories of good quality chicken breast and green vegetables the body will metabolise them differently.
The diet-induced thermic effects of food is the amount of calories needed to break down food, perform metabolic processes and synthesise enzymes. Protein burns the most calories then carbohydrates and finally fats. The thermic effect of whole foods is almost double that of processed foods. Therefore, individuals who consume whole foods burn more calories.
If you eat a lot of processed foods this can often result in your metabolic rate dropping below your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) which is the average energy needed to keep the body functioning at rest. This not good, especially if you are aiming to lose weight and body fat.
Now whilst you can increase your calorie burn with whole foods and therefore your metabolism, you also need to be looking at other elements of your nutrition, lifestyle and exercise for optimum impact.