If you live in Honolulu, HI, and consume a traditional Hawaiian diet, you’re eating healthy. However, the diet of most people has changed dramatically. The changing diet has caused a problem with health and obesity. You can lose body fat by changing what you eat. You don’t have to go back to a traditional diet, you can simply make better food choices that are more nutritious and lower in calories. The ancient diet was 18% fat, but today, it’s 40% fat. It’s no wonder the island is plagued with obesity and conditions directly related, like high blood pressure.
Traditional Hawaiian foods are healthier options.
Before WWII, spam didn’t exist in Hawaii. The military shipped it to Pearl Harbor for soldiers. They brought so much to the island that there was a surplus after the war. The government allowed stores to sell it. Locals embraced it due to the low cost. It’s high in carcinogens, sodium, preservatives, and fat and has little or no nutritional value. Eating less processed foods, including traditional foods like poi, breadfruit, and fish, can help you lose body fat. Just switching from potatoes to breadfruit can help you lose fat while boosting your heart health. It also has a low glycemic rating.
Fat-burning foods are thermogenic.
Thermogenic foods require more calories to digest than most other foods. A few are close to a sum of zero. High protein foods, for instance, require about a third of the calories contained in foods for digestion. They also fill you up and keep you feeling full longer. High-protein foods often contain L-arginine, a metabolism booster. It helps boost HGH, which helps burn fat while increasing your energy level. Eggs, white albacore tuna packed in water, fava beans, and nut butter with only one ingredient, the nut, are high in protein and thermogenic.
Bananas contain potassium and can help burn fat.
If you want to lose weight, foods high in potassium provide benefits. Potassium does many things in the body. It’s a natural diuretic. It helps muscles recover, reduces the risk of heart problems, and helps create glycogen from glucose. Glycogen is held in the muscles and liver. If you don’t have enough, glucose goes directly to fat storage. When you eat foods high in potassium and combine it with exercise, you’ll burn fat while building muscle. Potassium also helps control sugar cravings. Foods high in potassium, besides bananas, include leafy greens, salmon, kale, and avocados.
- Don’t forget healthy fat. It can help you lose fat. Food containing omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, grass-fed beef, and walnuts, help prevent insulin spikes. Coconut oil contains an MCT that helps shed belly fat.
- Food high in magnesium helps boost muscle contractions during exercise, but they also help reduce insulin levels and keep your burning fat at its best.
- What you drink makes a difference. Sugary drinks should be off-limits if you want to lose fat. Instead of soft drinks, switch to green tea, coffee, or water. All three fill you up and boost your metabolism. Green tea has well-known fat-burning properties.
- Include beets in your diet. The betaine in beets boosts fat burning and reduces insulin resistance. Increase food with pectin, such as green beans, apples, and strawberries. Pectin blocks fat accumulation.
For more information, contact us today at Hawaii Fit Camp!
