FYI Thermogenic Properties [Archive] - Fitness Favorites Forums

StrongBearSeer

March 30th, 2005, 05:23 PM

Well my husband (still) hasn't gotten our book back so I took this from someone on the web to explain it.

Many people would be surprised by the fact that you can actually burn fat by eating! However before I tell you how you can actually eat more yet still burn more fat than someone who eats less we have to take a closer look at how various foods have positive or negative energy values.
As you should know food is divided into 3 basic categories:
Proteins
Carbohydrates
Fats

The carbohydrates are divided into 3 groups:
Simple carbs - sugars, glucose, lactose, dextrose
Complex starches - rice, bread, pasta, grains, potatoes
Fibrous carbs - vegetables - broccoli, cabbage, cauli, green beans etc.

Understanding Thermogenic values:
The thermogenic value of a food or food group is determined by the energy that your body uses to digest the food and the metabolic responses associated with those foods. In general the harder the food is to digest the higher the thermogenic value of that food.
The food requires a great deal more energy to break it down or digest it so the overall calorie and energy value of that particular food is "negative" .
A low thermogenic value food is digested extremely quickly and the sugar from the food enters the blood stream at a fast rate and can have a higher affinity to store as fat.

Foods with high Thermogenic values: (fat burning foods)
Number 1: Most protein foods apart from liquid protein drinks as these are easily digested. Protein also has indirect thermogenic value due to the muscle building effect after intense exercise. The more lean muscle mass your body carries the thermogenic you become as lean tissue has a higher metabolic demand than fat cells.

Number 2: Fibrous vegetables have very high thermogenic values due to the intensive digestive process to break the cellulose fiber in vegetables.
Brown rice has more of a thermogenic value than white rice due to the added fibre.Whole grain breads also have a slightly higher thermogenic value than white bread due to the fiber and grain content.

Powerful combination:
Protein and Vegetables - By combining these two food groups you can really super charge the fat burning process and not only burn fat but facilitate lean muscle growth.
If your goals are to get that ultra-lean ripped look with a beautiful set of six-pack abs a nutrition program based on lean proteins like chicken, fish, lean beef, tuna, egg whites and vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, cabbage, zucchini will most certainly get you to your goals quicker than a diet based on high starches from bread, potatoes, pasta.

Foods with a low Thermogenic value: ( High Kilojoule foods that digest extremely quickly )
There are certain carbohydrate based foods that contain very high kilojoule ( energy ) levels yet possess very little thermogenic value. The easier a food is to digest the less thermogenic value it possess. High sugar foods raise your blood sugar level extremely quickly, so much that your pancreas releases too much insulin and this in turn starts the fat conversion process as excessive sugars are converted to triglycerides and stored in your fat cells.
All sugars fall into this category when ingested in excess, these include:
White bread, white pasta, sucrose, glucose, dextrose, maltose, lactose.
Rice cakes, cakes, biscuits sugar soft drinks, fresh juices and fruit.

Drinking excessive dairy products whether this be in the form of milkshakes, protein shakes, yogurt will have a negative effects on your metabolism and encourage fat accumulation.
If you are going to include dairy products or protein drinks in your nutrition program try and keep them to an absolute minimum, once or twice per day maximum.

Solid foods versus liquid foods:
Solid foods have a great deal more thermogenic value than liquid foods these including protein supplements and fruit juices or glucose based sports drinks.
As liquids contain little fiber they move sugars quickly to the blood stream and cause dramatic fluctuations in blood sugar levels. You may drink a glucose drink before you train but it is probably the worst thing you can do as by the time you start to lift some weights your blood sugar will be lower than when you started due to the sugar spike and excessive insulin reaction.
My advice is to stay away from fruit juices and high sugar drinks if your goals are to get lean and build quality muscle mass. These drinks only serve to slow down your fat burning process and increase fat storage. If you must drink a high sugar drink you are better to consume it after intense exercise to replenish glycogen levels as at this point you have opened the doors to hungry muscle cells than need replenishing. It's all about supply and demand.
If you throw in lots of sugar and it is not needed expect it to convert to body fat as a very fast rate!

Thermogenic value of fats:
Fats are not the " bad boy" of nutrition as many people may think as what we need to consider is the "good fats" not the " bad fats". Good fats come from olive oil, omega 3's from salmon and fish oils, flaxseed oil. These fats are invaluable to the human metabolism and can actually increase the rate at which your burn fat. The "bad fats" are those that are generally solid at room temperature like butter, cheese, fatty meat, lard, and highly processed oils.

These are the true bad boys in the fat world and cause a myriad of damage at a cellular level, as the body can no longer recognize their chemical structure due to the changes from processing.
They try and bond to cells to aid in metabolic functions but they can't because of their misshapen structures and by doing so actually create chaos and severe damage.
Natural cold pressed oils are an essential part and cannot be made by our bodies hence the word "essential". Without these essential fatty acids our bodies would quickly deteriorate at a cellular level. These "good fats" play a very important part in regulating many body functions from hormones and skin quality and maintaining insulin sensitivity.

For bodybuilding purposes they are actually far more important than carbohydrates yet they always seem to get the "back seat" due to the stigma associated with the word" fat"!
So we can conclude that the good fats do have fairly high thermogenic values due to their importance for metabolic function and their ability to slow down the digestion of carbohydrates and slow the release of sugar into the blood stream.

A calorie is not a calorie!
There are many scientists who do not understand why a calorie is not a calorie and recent studies have left many of them scratching their heads! They could not figure out why one group in a controlled study lost more weight than the group who ingested more calories.
This blows out the theory of a "calorie is a calorie is a calorie" and the underlying reason why is outlined above, it is the metabolic demand or thermogenic value of various foods place upon the human body. This means counting calories is a thing of the past and we must now think more of the thermogenic values of the various food groups and the overall affect they have on our metabolism.

The thermogenic effect is here and here to stay, it goes against conventional science but the writing is on the wall and has been proven in recent scientific studies. To learn more on how to structure your nutrition program and reap the benefits contact me personally to arrange a personal consultation.

Steve Jones
powerzone@netspace.net.au (powerzone@netspace.net.au)