Herbs, spices and teas

Herbs & Spices for Weight Loss

Herbs and spices don’t just make food much more tasty and interesting, using them can also speed up your weight loss efforts, by quite a considerable amount.  This is an inexpensive way to boost your weight loss efforts.  These spices can all be purchased at your local Bulk Barn – this is a great way to go and purchase just a small amount of each so that you can see which you find easiest to cook with (rather than buying them all individually packaged in the spice aisle of your grocery store). 

Here is a list of herbs & spices along with their particular benefit:

Turmeric – inflammation
Cinnamon – blood sugar/insulin control
Cayenne – fat burn
Ginger – reduces appetite
Black pepper – burns calories
Coriander – increased metabolic function
Cumin – overall weight loss
Garlic – metabolize carbohydrates and fat
Parsley – reduce blood glucose
Ginseng – slows weight gain
Cardamom - reduce blood glucose
Cloves – increase metabolism
Mustard – thermogenic

If you don’t do much cooking, another easy way to incorporate these into your diet is to fill them into empty gelatin capsules using the capsule machine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo92dGCt1Rc  (can be purchased online, or at most health food stores)

Weight Loss Teas

In addition to herbs & spices, tea also has its own individual health & weight loss properties, from dimming your hunger hormones to upping your calorie burn to literally melting the fat that’s stored in your fat cells. In addition to that, they can also help reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes.  Just make sure that you don’t add sugar to your tea!

Here is a list of teas along with their particular benefit:

Bilberry – balance sugar levels 
Oolong – reduce cholesterol/fat metabolism 
Hibiscus - contains flavonoids and minerals that help reduce absorption of fats.
Green tea -  maintain metabolic health. Promotes weight loss.
Rose tea -  more antioxidants than green tea.  Thought to clear toxins from your system and prevent constipation.
Peppermint – appetite control
Pu-erh tea – has been shown to literally shrink fat cells
White Tea - prevent new fat cells from forming
Yerba maté tea - contains chemicals that help burn fat and calories while suppressing appetite.
Star anise - antimicrobial,  promote digestive health, decrease water weight.
Green tea - boost metabolism, unlocks fat cells
Rooibos - regulates fat storage hormones
Mint – cravings

 Next week’s blog will look at how Omega-3 fatty acid can aid in weight loss.