With my Indian background,
eating spicy, flavorful food was almost mandatory. At our family dinner
table, anyone who didn’t add hot peppers to pizza or couldn’t take the
heat from my mom’s chicken curry would be stared down and ridiculed.
When
I was trying to lose weight, my love of spicy and flavorful food really
didn’t translate too well (at least not at first). Food that was
considered “healthy” was also super boring! I didn’t have much success
in sticking to healthy eating, because I would crave sugar and fattening
foods — they tasted so much better!
But
after realizing how important flavor is to me, I began creating healthy
recipes that incorporated the spices I loved so much. Boom! Losing
weight became so much easier. I lost over 40 pounds in a matter of
months and the process was more enjoyable than I would have ever
believed, because I loved the food I was eating!
The things is, spices not only taste great, they also have additional weight loss benefits. Spices are low in calories, with just four to seven calories per teaspoon.
Here are the five best spices for weight loss and how to use them:
1. Cumin
Cumin
is a deeper, smokier spice used in Mediterranean and Indian cuisines.
It also helps to control blood sugar while providing a distinctive
flavor with little calories.
Add three-quarters tsp. cumin, along with a dash of salt and pepper, to any fish or meat.
2. Cardamom
Cardamom has been used as a digestive aid for centuries, mostly as an
additive in tea. It has also been said to cure sugar cravings and serves
as a natural breath freshener. Cardamom is warming and aromatic when
cooked, and is a low-calorie burst of flavor for vegetables, lentils and
soups.
Crack one seed open slightly and add cardamom directly to a cup of tea for smoother digestion after a meal.
3. Turmeric
This beautiful, orange spice brings a warm, earthy flavor to many dishes without an overpowering taste. Turmeric improves digestion, and reduces symptoms of bloating and gas. It also contains cancer-fighting antioxidants.
I use turmeric in curried chickpeas, a dish that helped me a lot with losing my first 10 pounds.
4. Capsaicin
The is the component that gives peppers and red chili powder their
heat, capsaicin increases metabolism which causes our bodies to burn
more calories, even in a resting state. It also helps control appetite.
The easiest way to start including capsaicin in your diet is to add
half a chopped jalapeño pepper or serrano pepper (slightly spicier) into
your cooking base (such as oil) to turn up the heat in meat, eggs,
beans and vegetable dishes.
5. Cinnamon
This sweet spice regulates blood sugar, which helps reduce appetite and decrease storage of fat.
A tsp. of cinnamon is a great replacement for sugar in coffee or tea, and also adds a lovely kick to smoothies.
Eating food that you enjoy is crucial to losing weight and to
keeping it off. Simply put, if you like your food, you will want to eat
it. And you will be on a faster path to losing weight and feeling
amazing.
You can get a free copy of my weight-loss recipe book with 7 recipes using these spices here.
source:mindbodygreen