In this post I’m going to share the top 10 best fat-burning foods.
Quick Disclaimer About “Fat Burning Foods”
First I just want to say one quick thing: strictly speaking, there’s no such thing as a “fat-burning food.”
Food doesn’t burn fat. Your body burns fat.
Food contains calories (obviously), and too many calories will make you gain weight—no matter if those calories come from cookie dough or chicken breast.
So anytime somebody talks about “fat burning foods”…well, technically, they’re full of it. That’s BS.
No food in the world can burn your fat for you. I don’t care if it’s a superfood grown in the mountains of Tibet, or whatever hyped-up marketing nonsense is on the package, it will not burn fat for you.
You have to burn the fat. And in order to do that, you have to exercise portion control and eat fewer calories than you burn.
But…that said…there are some foods that make fat loss EASIER and help you to burn fat more quickly and effectively. So that is the sense in which they are a “fat-burning food.”
Now with that said, here are your top 10 best fat-burning foods.
Fat-Burning Foods #1: Chicken Breast
Chicken is great for fat burning. It’s just about the leanest protein source you’ll find.
And the reason why protein is great for fat burning is because:
- It helps preserve your muscle. So that when you do lose weight you’ll lose more body fat, instead of losing muscle.
- Protein helps keep you feeling full. Which helps avoid hunger and overeating.
- Protein has the highest thermogenic effect of any food. That means that when you eat protein, your body burns more calories just to digest it.
The thermogenic effect of protein is as high as 30%, which is much higher than fat and carbohydrates. So for every 100 calories of chicken breast, you’re really only taking in about 70 NET calories.
Fat-Burning Foods #2: White Potatoes & Sweet Potatoes
Now you have to be careful with starchy veggies like this because they do have a lot of carbs.
So why are they on the list?
Well, if you want to burn fat but also build or at least maintain your muscle mass, you’re going to need to have some healthy carbs in your diet. And potatoes and sweet potatoes are, in my opinion, one of the best sources.
They’ve got a lot of nutrition in them—beta carotene, a full day’s RDA of vitamin C, more potassium than a banana, plus fiber, and if you cook and then cool your potatoes they can become one of the best sources of resistant starch. (Which is another great nutrient for fat loss.)
So add some potatoes and sweet potatoes into your diet. Just watch the portion size, and make sure you’re not eating friend potatoes, like french fries, which are coated and cooked with unhealthy oils.
Fat-Burning Foods #3: Broccoli
Broccoli is an amazing food because it’s ridiculously low in calories while still being full of nutrition and filling you up so you don’t get hungry.
In fact, you don’t even have to count the calories from broccoli if you don’t want to.
Eat as much as you want, because I promise you, no one ever got fat by overeating broccoli.
Here is the meal I just ate. Notice this meal contains all of the first 3 fat-burning foods:
I’ve got some lean chicken breast, sweet potato, and a healthy serving of lightly steam broccoli.
The only other thing I had was a couple fish oil pills for some extra omega 3 fatty acids. I don’t always take fish oil, but this meal was really low in fat, so I took a couple fish oil.
This meal was really tasty, easy to prepare (I just baked the chicken for 25 minutes, microwaved the sweet potato until it was soft, and ligthly steamed the broccoli).
This meal is going to keep me full for hours, and perhaps most importantly: it’s absolutely packed with nutrition. This meal has about 75 grams of protein, 60 grams of carbs, 10 grams of fat, 13 grams of fiber, and only about 600 calories.
Why am I telling you this?
I want to impress on you the vital importance of taking immediate action.
So what I’d like you to do, after you read this article, is think about the next meal you’re going to eat. And try to incorporate at least 2 of the fat-burning foods from this video into your next meal.
I promise it’ll make you feel great, and if you actually TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION on what you’re learning here…you’ll be much more likely to actually make a lasting change in your lifestyle and your body.
Fat-Burning Foods #4: Green Tea
This is without a doubt one of the healthiest, if not THE healthiest thing you can drink.
It’s full of antioxidants, a little caffeine, but it’s also rich in L-Theanine, so even though it contains caffeine it also has a calming, relaxing effect—so you don’t get that jittery feeling that you can get with coffee but rather a relaxed sort of focus that is really nice.
Studies have shown that green tea can actually increase fat-burning by a little bit. Some people take this as an excuse to take mega-doses of green tea supplements, but I prefer to simply drink green tea often.
Eating whole foods that contain a wide spectrum of nutrients is always better than taking one little pill with one concentrated dose of one specific compound.
Another option, instead of taking supplements, is to buy edible green tea.
Basically it’s just organic, dried green tea that’s been tested for low levels of heavy metals…and you can eat it: throw it on a salad, in a soup, whatever you want—you can even just take a small spoonful.
I would recommend that over taking a supplement, because this way you’re still getting the whole food. The whole green tea leaf.
Fat-Burning Foods #5: Wild-Caught (Sockeye) Salmon
Salmon is a great food for all the same reasons chicken is. It’s a great source of lean protein, and also has the benefit of being one of your best sources of heart-healthy omega 3 fatty acids.
When you buy salmon, usually you’re getting keta salmon (which is the leanest and cheapest source of salmon). Keta salmon is usually farmed (not wild), and it’s usually so lean that it’s easy to dry out when cooking.
That’s why I prefer sockeye salmon instead. Sockeye salmon is almost always wild caught, and it’s oilier, so it doesn’t dry out. Because it has a little more fat, it also has more of those beneficial omega 3 fats.
Fat-Burning Foods #6: Eggs
Eggs are a protein source, but they’re not lean. One egg contains about 75 calories, and about 45 of those come from fat, with about 30 coming from protein.
So why are they a good fat-burning food?
Well for starters, they also really help keep you full. If you’ve ever eaten a couple of hard-boiled eggs, you know that they really fill you up, don’t they? You can only eat so many eggs.
As far as being a good, complete source of highly bioavailable protein…eggs are probably the #1 most bioavailable protein you can get from natural food. (Whey protein is more bioavailable, but that’s obviously more of a supplement.)
Egg yolks are also a great source of nutrients like choline and B vitamins.
And finally, just from a taste and convenience perspective: eggs are cheap, they last a long time in the fridge before they go bad, they’re easy to cook, they’re tasty, and you can cook them in a hundred different ways.
Eggs are a great addition to your fat-burning diet.
Fat-Burning Foods #7: Brussels Sprouts
Brussels sprouts are a great fat-burning food for all the same reasons as broccoli.
Really any veggie is good for fat-burning, but I especially like the cruciferous veggies: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, etc.
They are low in calories, but high in nutrients and fiber.
And if you lightly steam and salt your Brussels sprouts, personally I think they are a very tasty food.
(They’re a great addition to any calorie-dense food like pizza, lasagna, etc., because they will fill you up and stop you from overeating those high-calorie foods.)
Fat-Burning Foods #8: Black Beans
Black beans are an awesome food for weight loss. First of all, they’re a very balanced food. They contain a good amount of protein, slow-digesting carbs, fiber, and fats.
I usually think of black beans as more of a carbohydrate source than anything, so I pair them along with a more complete protein source like chicken.
Beans are full of nutrients and antioxidants. And luckily, they’re easy to add to things. You can add beans in with mixed veggies, with rice, with any sort of soup or stew, and they really won’t change the flavor at all. You probably won’t even really notice them. So they’re a really easy thing to sneak into your diet.
And, you don’t have to, but ideally it’s best to soak your black beans for a while before eating them to minimize any anti-nutrients in them.
Finally, last piece of advice: if you buy canned black beans…then look for a brand that uses BPA-free lining in the can.
Fat-Burning Foods #9: Raw Almonds
Almonds are another super healthy food. They have a good mix of macronutrients, with some healthy fats, some protein, and even some fiber.
They are a high in fat, most of the calories come from fat, so you have to be careful with portion control.
But what I really like about almonds, and especially raw almonds, is that—once again, they help you feel full.
If you’ve ever eaten raw almonds, you know they’re chewy, and…they just really stave off your hunger very well quickly.
Raw almonds *may* also have less calories than almonds that are smoked or otherwise cooked. (Well…not that the almond has less calories—you just won’t absorb as many.)
Finally, the last great thing about almonds is that they’re a super convenient snack. You can throw some in a bag and bring them pretty much everywhere. It’s always a good idea to have a few almonds on hand to help you avoid temptations like the McDonald’s drive-thru.
Fat-Burning Foods #10: Water
Didn’t expect that one, did you?
Water isn’t really a food, I’ll give you that. But it’s still really important for weight loss.
Because if you’re dehydrated, all sorts of bad things can happen to your body. You won’t perform as well in your workouts or at the gym. You’ll feel low-energy, tired, headachy, and worst of all…you can mistake that thirst for hunger.
A lot of times people eat because they think they’re hungry, when all they really need is a little water.
So stay hydrated to keep your fat-burning furnace burning all day long.
Did You Notice…
The last thing I want to leave you with is this: Pay attention to the foods that are NOT on this list.
First of all, there are no calorie-containing drinks. Water and green tea are on the list, but those have 0 calories. If you want to burn fat, you really cannot afford to drink your calories.
Second, there are no hyped-up “superfoods” like acai or goji berries or any of that nonsense. Not that those aren’t healthy foods…but they’re not the weight loss miracles that marketers want you to think they are.
Instead, the best fat-burning foods are good old, standard health foods that taste good, fill you up, and nourish your body to fuel your workouts and put your body in a prime position to burn off that unwanted fat.
Like This Article?
Sign up for the Stronger+Leaner newsletter using the form below! As a thank-you, I’ll send you a free report with 7 of my BEST fat-loss tips.