This series of posts on healthy weight loss has so far covered some general principles of healthy weight loss, five protein foods that burn fat. and eat fats for healthy weight loss. This post will identify some fruits and vegetables with fat-burning qualities that can be included in a varied whole food diet. Diet is used here in the sense of what each person regularly eats and drinks to provide proper nutrition to their body, and not as a prescribed regimen for losing weight.

Fruits and vegetables are the foods that should make-up the majority of foods eaten in a healthy diet. They provide fibre, vitamins and minerals that need to be eaten every day for optimum health. Also, they are generally lower in calories than proteins, fats and grains, so can be eaten in large amounts to fill you up for relatively few calories. In addition, certain fruits and vegetables are foods that burn fat. A selection of these is given below.

Cabbage Family Foods That Burn Fat

All of the cabbage family below are powerful body detoxifiers, a characteristic that aids weight loss and helps prevent and fight cancer.

Broccoli also burns fat by stabilizing blood sugar and preventing cholesterol from entering the blood stream. It has many other health benefits besides healthy weight loss. Buy broccoli with compact dark-green, purplish or bluish-green flower clusters and store in the refrigerator for up to four days. Eat three to five cups of broccoli a week.

Cabbage is especially rich in cancer-fighting nutrients, and has powerful antibacterial properties that can quickly heal peptic ulcers. Buy green red or savoy cabbage with heavy heads and shiny leaves, and without bruises or cuts. Once cut, cabbage quickly loses its vitamin C. Store for up to two weeks in a perforated plastic bag in the refrigerator. Eat 1/2 to 1 cup of cabbage at least three times a week.

Kale is a fat-burning food that energizes the body, stabilizes the blood-sugar and zaps cholesterol. High in fibre and many vitamins, kale has the highest nutritional value per calorie of almost any food, and has many health benefits besides promoting healthy weight loss.

For the mildest taste, buy kale with small crisp dark bluish-green leaves, and store wrapped in a damp paper towel in a perforated plastic bag in the coldest part of the refrigerator for up to two days. Eat it often, raw or cooked.

Other Vegetables That Burn Fat

Tomatoes are a fat-burning food that stabilize blood-sugar, energize the body and reduce cholesterol levels. Rich in fibre, vitamins and potassium, tomatoes also reduce the risk of heart disease and colon-cancer, and strengthen bones.

Buy local vine-ripened tomatoes as these contain more nutrients than those picked when green. Eat alone or with other vegetables

Spaghetti Squash, a blood-sugar stabilizer and cholesterol zapper has many health properties besides burning fat. Buy a squash heavy for its size, with an even colour. Do not wash before storing at room temperature for up to one month, or once cut, for up to two days in the refrigerator. Cooked squash freezes well. Eat one cup or more a week.

Fruits That Burn Fat

High in fibre and water and rich in vitamins, minerals and enzymes, fruit has many health benefits. The antioxidants and phytochemicals in fruit help prevent cell damage and chronic diseases, and protect against heart disease, strokes, diabetes and cancer. Fruits help to maintain the acid-base balance of the blood (making sure it does not become too acid.) Some fruits also help the body burn fat. In general, eat the whole fruit rather than taking it as juice, which may raise the blood sugar too quickly causing insulin levels to spike.

Apples detoxify the body, control blood sugar and lower cholesterol. The pectin they contain keeps hunger at bay for longer, and prevents the sugar in the apple from causing a surge in blood-sugar and so keeps insulin levels low. Regular consumption of apples also protects against heart disease, stroke, diabetes and asthma, and may reduce the risk of lung cancer by as much as 50 percent.

Buy firm richly coloured organic apples (or those that have not been sprayed) and store in the fridge for up to six weeks. If not sure whether the apples have been sprayed, soak for 30 minutes in a Clorex (brand of sodium hyperchlorite) bath of one teaspoon Clorex to one gallon of water, then remove and soak in clear water for ten minutes, then dry. Eat at least one apple every day.

Berries. Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are all foods that burn fat by detoxifying and energizing the body and lowering cholesterol. But they are also highly nutritious, being rich in antioxidants and flavonoids – substances that trigger the release of natural enzymes that fight disease (including heart disease, degenerative diseases and the flu.) Berries are also high in insoluble fibre that prevents all their calories being absorbed.

Buy shiny, plump and firm fruit and store for 3 – 5 days in the refrigerator, (checking and removing damaged or soggy berries daily) though they are best eaten within 2 days of purchase.

Picture credit: C.P. Storm

A chronic illness or condition generally takes time to develop, and often ends up taking over a person’s life.   Knowing how to heal a chronic disease involves a holistic health approach.  That is rather than simply getting rid of symptoms, the approach is to become whole and to heal your life.

While using a holistic  practitioner can be beneficial, you can also develop your own alternative therapy by following the suggestions below. If you need help, find someone who will not just treat your symptoms, but will help you get the the root of the problem.

Any symptom can be seen as a message from the body that there is dis-ease in one or more areas of a person’s life.  Often the first signs are uncomfortable emotions such as anxiety, fear, anger or depression.  Generally the response to these emotional messages  is to ignore them, or at least not to recognize them as messages.   If they are ignored for too long, the body ups the ante by producing symptoms.

Sometimes the symptoms may be a metaphor for the area of dis-ease.   For example, those who have recently lost a loved one, or a loved object, may develop heart symptoms, those in psychological pain may develop chronic physical pain, or those who feel unable to speak out, or up for themselves. may develop a throat condition.

Try the following suggestions whether you have had your chronic disease for years, or whether it has only recently arisen; whether it arose as a result of injury, or whether it spontaneously appeared..  Back-pain or complex sympathetic dystrophy could be examples of chronic conditions arising from an injury, while fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome may have arisen spontaneously.

The first thing to look at was what was happening in your life in the year before the condition or injury began. Do this even if it began in childhood.  Look at events, people, emotions, and mood.  Write down what you find – preferably in a journal if you have one, because you will be tracking this over time and into the future.

Was there an event or ongoing situation, or a person that was distressing you?  Or was there an event, that may even have been positive, like a new job or a move to a different area that caused you to see yourself in a new way?  For example, for children, going to a new school can be very stressful, especially if they feel they have to change in order to fit in.  Were you feeling uncomfortable emotions such as anger, sadness, resentment, shame, or any other uncomfortable emotion?

If your chronic condition has times when it fluctuates in intensity or if it is episodic like migraines or some back pain, then also look at what was happening in your life each time it occurred.  For long-standing but frequent episodic conditions, you may not remember each occurrence, but note any that stand out, then continue to note them in your journal from now forward.

An example of investigating an episodic condition, was shown by a woman who had episodic migraines that were present when she woke in the morning  On investigating her dreams, and events the night before, she realized that the migraines occurred after she had given a party or taken people out to a restaurant.  She found these situations stressful because she felt responsible for the happiness of her guests.  If they did not have a good time, she felt it was her fault, so she did everything that she could to ensure that everyone was happy, and constantly worried that they may not be having a good time.  Once she realised that people were responsible for their own happiness, she started to relax and enjoy these events.  Her stress went away and her migraines disappeared.

Once you have identified the cause of your symptoms, realize that the situation or person, or the source of dis-ease, is not causing your symptoms.  The  meaning that you put on the situation causes your response, not the situation itself. .  The situation likely triggers a negative belief you have about yourself; perhaps as the result of a past event, and you are responding to that belief.

For example, when my in-laws made it clear that they did not accept me as a suitable wife for their son, I was triggered by my belief that I was not OK. because my parents had not accepted me either when I was a child.  If they had accepted me, I would have believed that I was OK, and my in-law’s non-acceptance would likely not have bothered me.  As it was, I had to work on self-acceptance before I could see my in-law’s rejection of me as being more about them and how acceptable they thought they were, rather than about me.

Once you have identified the cause of the dis-ease underlying your chronic disease, then do everything you can to heal it.  This may mean forgiving yourself or another, letting go of resentment or blame, or changing your view of yourself or another.  As you  heal your life you may also heal your chronic disease.

We never really know what other’s have gone through.  I believe that we all do the best we can in any situation, so  even when people appear to be unfair, they may not know any other way at that time, because they are also being triggered by something from their past.  Your job is not to blame others or yourself, but to learn to love yourself, and eventually love the other who has been triggering your pain.

Loving  yourself and responding differently to the things triggering you, is your path to healing.  The key word is responding.  When you react to a  trigger, your actions are automatic, ruled by emotion with no pause for reflection or cognitive thought.  The outcome is often that neither party gets the outcome they want, the relationship is undermined or completely disrupted, and both people end up feeling angry or put down.

Responding calls for reflection and suspension of immediate judgement.  You think about the circumstances and the outcome you want, and taking into account all the aspects of the situation, including your emotions and the importance of the relationship, you consciously decide how to respond.  The likelihood is that both sides will be more satisfied, there will be less disruption to the relationship, and the door will be open for further discussion.ct, i

Learning to respond instead of to react is also part of becoming whole, and so is an important part of holistic health.

Even with these new ways of being and responding, you may still have your chronic disease.  However, once you recognize your triggers and stop reacting and start responding, you have a better chance of reducing or managing your symptoms and preventing complications.  Healing can occur through disappearance of a condition, or by no longer suffering from a condition even though it is still present.

Of course it goes without saying, that anyone with a chronic disease should be under the care of a competent health professional – preferably a holistic practitioner.  But within that relationship, you can do a lot towards self-healing your chronic disease by looking at patterns of the symptoms as they relate to other situations in your life.  Keep your doctor informed of what you find.