Colette Bouchez On Health, Beauty, Style , Attitude for Fabulous Women Over 40!: Study: Eat This & Burn More Fat !

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Study: Eat This & Burn More Fat !

A new study shows a common salad ingredient could be the key to weight loss. Here’s how to eat away the pounds! - By Colette Bouchez

If you’re old enough to remember platform shoes (the first time around :), disco balls and KC and The Sunshine Band, then you probably also remember one of the hottest weight loss crazes of the 1970's - The Vinegar and Lecithin Diet.

This one combined lecithin supplements, with a spoonful of apple cider vinegar after every meal - and was once touted as the fat burning revelation of the decade. Of course it soon went the way of pretty much all other fat burning revelations : It was replaced by the next big thing.

But if a brand new study is right, then dig out those KC albums and put on your dancin' shoes: That 1970’s weight loss craze may have actually have some merit.

Indeed, a group of Japanese scientists now say that a compound found in vinegar – a natural chemical known as acetic acid – may, in fact, actually help you burn more fat!

In fact, experts say that although the study was conducted on mice, results are so impressive they believe that not only can it translate to humans, it might eventually elevate plain old every day white vinegar to a high status among the few weight loss aids shown to really work.

“We intend to perform further clinical studies to confirm fat pad reduction and energy consumption enhancement by vinegar intake. Moreover, we will investigate the effect of acetic acid on fatty oxidative activation in other organs, particularly skeletal muscles,” wrote the researchers in the latest edition of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

In the study three groups of mice were fed a diet consisting of at least 50% fat. One group received supplementation of 1.5 percent vinegar (high acid), one group received .3% vinegar (low acid) and the third group received plain water.

The result: By the end of the study the mice taking both the high and the low acid vinegars gained about 10% less body fat than the mice who had no vinegar. This, say researchers, indicates that even a little vinegar may do the trick when it comes to fat burning potential.

How Salad Makes You Thin

Since almost the beginning of lettuce-growing time, doctors have known that eating a lot of salads can help you maintain your weight. One reason has to do with the low calorie- high fiber content of salad greens, most of which can help you feel full longer after a meal.

Moreover, if you start your meal with a salad, and give your appetite 10 to 15 minutes before eating your next course you’re likely to eat less – simply because the salad will help your stomach feel fuller on less.

Now, however, experts say that adding a douse of vinegar to your greens actually works to influence genes directly linked to the body's ability to burn fat. Moreover, the acid in the vinegar also works to increase activity of heat generating proteins -also key to the fat burning process.

It short, vinegar “turns up the heat” so your body burns fat faster!

Interestingly, previous studies on a concept known as "thermogenics) have shown that other hot foods, including chilli peppers, also appear to increase fat burning by turning up our metabolic heat. In fact there are some super models I know that won’t eat a bite of food unless it’s smothered in a spicy red pepper! Some have been known to follow every meal with a " pepper and water chaser". ( But don't try this at home unless you're already used to eating very spicy foods since they can be hard on the mouth and tongue and cause extreme gastrointestinal upset or other problems.) ( And if you're already suffering from hot flashes, hot spicy foods definite will make the hot flash worse!).

In addition to the new study on vinegar, previous research published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2005 has shown it may also reduce appetite and cut cravings that are linked to spikes in sugar that occur after eating. In this instance it may be particularly helpful to those suffering with insulin resistance, the precursor to type 2 diabetes.