If you are a potato, pasta, and bread-eating carb lover struggle cutting back the carbs from your diet, then this will help. But before we get into that let me just put it out there that there is really no such thing as “fat burning!”
Yup! Gasp and clutch your pearls girl!
Let me explain, I promise to keep it short and simple before making you feel like you’re reading a science or anatomy book.
The body does not technically “burn fat” and nothing you consume will get your body to do so either. The body’s metabolism actually utilizes a constant supply of energy from the foods you eat to breathe, think, digest, and operate. That energy is measured by what is known as Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which makes up about 60-70% of the calories your body uses (“burn”) to perform basic bodily functions. (1, 9, 10)
So when you read the trendy word “burn fat” it really is just getting your body to utilize energy from the excess fat that your body stored from unused energy.
But for the sake of staying on “trend” let’s get back to this hack for “burning fat” (utilizing stored energy) when eating carbs.
We know carbs sometimes get such a bad rep, but whole wheat products for instance do have their perks with giving our body a little dose of chromium which helps with managing blood sugar, diabetes, weight management, heart health, brain health, and stable energy. (5)
Now let’s not take this as a full invitation to get a bit crazy on whole wheat as there is such a thing as ‘WHEAT BELLY!” (7)
However, there is a greater source of chromium that you can consume, that is not carb-heavy, doesn’t add on extra pounds, and have far greater benefits than wheat!?!
I’m talking about CINNAMON, the “true cinnamon” that we spoke on that every girl must have in her pantry from our previous article about cinnamon ‘The Anti-Inflammatory Spice”.
As I highlighted a few amazing health benefits of this spice such as helping to balance blood sugar in those with type 2 diabetes or ward off Alzheimer’s disease. (2, 3, 4) The factors of cinnamon, its benefits, and its precautions can be a bit more complex especially when it comes to hormones and insulin resistance.
However, I will share what makes cinnamon the warrior you want in your recipes to combat the sugar spikes of carbs is not only the mineral chromium but a dietary reducing agent known as polyphenols. (6)
So if you have some cinnamon before eating lots of sugar or treats…
It can help manage that blood sugar spike.
Remember from the ‘The Anti-Inflammatory Spice”. article we don’t use just any kind of cinnamon, but to see a reduction in blood sugar spikes Ceylon Cinnamon is the best cinnamon bark to use, as the common bark known as cassia can be harmful because of the coumarin content. At the end of the day, Ceylon cinnamon is better quality and much safer. Because it can help block carbs from turning into stored fat (unused energy). (8) So it may be worth giving it a try!
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