A Fat Burning Diet

What is the ultimate fat burning diet? Lots of people are looking for the magic solution that will turn their bodies into furnaces and melt pounds of fat-stores in little or no time. But, is there really such a solution?

The idea of thermogenics is not a new one. All warm-blooded animals, including human beings, produce heat of their own to keep their organs, blood and other bodily fluids warm. Cold-blooded species rely on the sun or other heat sources to stay warm. They can produce very little heat of their own.

To create heat, our bodies need fuel. There are several sources of fuel that the body can use. They are all grouped together under the heading "calories". But, there are different types of calories.

How many calories your body burns under normal circumstances has to do with your metabolism. Cellular metabolism, simply put, is the process of using fuel (calories) to create heat or perform other functions.
When we exercise, our bodies produce more heat. Likewise, certain foods cause an increase in core temperature, by increasing cellular metabolism.

So, to make a long story short, when scientists began learning about and recording the effect that different foods have on increasing body temperature and metabolism, some people took this information and came up with a fat burning diet.

At first, the diets were used primarily by body builders. In order to enhance the appearance of their muscles, they needed to be as lean as possible. In addition to using compounds that would contribute to fat-loss, they also take part in activities to increase perspiration, in order to lose excess fluids.

Exactly how safe these undertakings are is debatable. There is no doubt that strength building exercises are good for our health and well-being. But, body builders might take it a little too far.

The fat burning diet, initially used by the body builder can now be found in books for people wanting to lose weight. It might be called the grapefruit diet or the cabbage soup diet or anything else. But, what you need to find out, if you want to be in good health is whether or not the diets are nutritionally complete.

Bitter orange, capsicum, ginger and caffeine are just a few of the plant extracts that are supposed to have thermogenic activity. Researchers determine this by including them in an animals diet, usually a laboratory rat.

Will a rats fat burning diet work for humans? Well, think about caffeine for a moment.

Caffeine is a stimulant. It occurs naturally in some parts of the world. It has the ability to protect plants from insects. People living in areas where it grows have consumed it for many years.

Today, most people consume some caffeine. But, laboratory animals diets are tightly controlled. A lab rat does not usually drink a cup of coffee every morning. So, when researchers feed caffeine to an animal, the effect is that the animal has more energy, moves around more and eats less.

So, what you really want is a fat burning diet developed for humans. There are a few good ones out there. It just takes a little effort to find them.