A healthy diet relies heavily on nutritional supplements and a balanced diet. Consuming the right foods and nutrients helps maintain your health. Which foods and nutrients are most effective for burning fat and maintaining health? Key ingredients include protein, fiber from green vegetables, good fats, and ingredients like spices. To help eliminate belly fat, consider these nine foods:

Slimming Vegetable and Fruit Protein Drink

Maximize Your Nutrient Intake

To maximize the effectiveness of your slimming plan, consume a mixed vegetable and fruit drink every morning in addition to your main meal. These drinks are both delicious and easy to prepare. You can enjoy them with breakfast, as a snack, as a meal replacement, or as a dessert.

Research shows that high-protein, low-fat vegetable and fruit drinks effectively promote nutrient absorption, especially by muscles.

Why use plant-based milk instead of dairy milk?

First, dairy milk can be difficult for some people to digest. Indigestion can lead to inflammation, which in turn can lead to weight gain, but there are more reasons. In 2014, scientists at Uppsala University found that women who drank more than three glasses of milk a day had twice the mortality rate compared to those who drank less than one glass a day. Fractures were also more common in heavy milk drinkers.

Although these findings are preliminary, they further highlight why it’s wise to supplement your daily fruit and vegetable drink with plant-based milk.

Eggs

Switching Off the Visceral Fat Gene

Eggs are the best single-food source of choline. Choline is a B vitamin essential for building all cell membranes in the body.

Choline deficiency is directly linked to genes that promote visceral fat accumulation, particularly in the liver. The U.S. Institute of Medicine sets the ADR at 425 mg for women and 550 mg for men. However, according to the 2015 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a small percentage of Americans meet this ADR.

Red Fruits

Switching Off the Obesity Gene

Like professional basketball players, each fruit is very good at its particular role. But red means your fruit is slightly superior—watermelon is to cantaloupe what LeBron James is to a New York Knicks reserve player.

For example, a study in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior found that people who ate more red and orange fruits and vegetables had a more toned complexion, thanks to disease-fighting compounds called carotenoids.

[Waist-Slimming Fruit Honor Roll]

Ruby grapefruit, sour cherries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, red apples (especially Pink Lady apples), watermelon, plums, peaches, and nectarines.

Olive Oil and Other Healthy Oils

Hunger Relief

Cooking oils do more than just make food taste better. In fact, the right kind can regulate hunger hormones and help curb cravings. Good choices include extra virgin olive oil, nuts, and oils from avocados.

Subjects who ate half a fresh avocado with lunch experienced a 40% decrease in appetite for the next few hours. In a new study in India, scientists fed two groups of 60 middle-aged men at risk for diabetes and heart disease a similar diet, except one group received 20% of its daily calories from pistachios. By the end of the study period, the men in the pistachio group had smaller waist circumferences.

[Waist-Slimming Fat Sources Honor Roll]

Extra virgin olive oil, virgin coconut oil, avocados, walnuts, cashews, almonds, almond butter, wild salmon, sardines, ground flaxseed (also known as flaxseed meal), and chia seeds.

Beans, rice, oats, and other healthy fiber

Switch off the diabetes gene

Think of beans as a weight loss pill—enjoy them whenever you want. One study found that even though they consumed 199 more calories per day, those who ate three-quarters of a cup of beans lost 3 kilograms (1.5 lbs) compared to those who didn’t eat beans.

Part of the reason is the fiber from beans and whole grains. The fiber helps the body secrete a substance called butyrate, which turns off genes that reduce insulin sensitivity. If you want to eat wheat, go ahead. But a growing body of scientific research suggests that sticking to the Waist Slimming Method’s fiber sources may be wiser. Scientists have found that eating oatmeal for breakfast leads to greater satiety and lower hunger levels than eating instant sugary corn flakes, leading to fewer calories consumed at the next meal, even if the calorie intake is the same for both breakfasts.

[Waist Slimming Grains Honor Roll]

Canned black beans, canned chickpeas (note), French green lentils, oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice.

*Note: Chickpeas are also known as snow lotus seeds.

• Additional Plant-Based Protein
• Boost Metabolism

One of the unique features of the Waist Slimming Method is its reliance on plant-based protein. While I’m not a vegetarian (far from it!), I understand that relying on animal milk for protein isn’t necessarily the best option for those seeking gastrointestinal health. This is especially true for those with lactose intolerance.

[Waist-Slimming Protein Sources Honor Roll]

Vega One All-In-One Nutrition Shake, Vega Performance Protein Powder, Sunwarrior Organic Plant Protein Powder, PlantFusion Organic Plant Protein Powder.

• Leafy Greens, Green Tea, and Bright Vegetables
• End Inflammation and Shut Down Fat-Storing Genes

Leafy greens like Swiss chard are truly the Swiss Army Knife for slicing meat. Eating plenty of leafy greens will protect your body with a generous dose of folic acid. Folic acid is a B vitamin involved in everything from boosting mood to fighting cancer. It’s also a genetic key, turning on genes that promote insulin resistance and shutting down genes that form fat cells.

But leafy greens also have another important function: they help maintain a healthy, balanced gut environment. Eating good bacteria isn’t enough; to keep these little guys healthy, you need to feed them. Their favorite food is fructooligosaccharides (FOS), a type of dietary fiber found in vegetables, fruits, and grains.

Of the three, vegetables may be the healthiest way to consume this key nutrient because they’re low in calories. Studies have shown that fructooligosaccharides can improve vitamin and mineral absorption, increase satiety, and even alleviate constipation, keeping the intestinal environment clean and smooth.

[Slimming Vegetable Honor Roll]

Kale, spinach, watercress, romaine lettuce, carrots, Swiss chard, zucchini, red bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, and asparagus.

• Lean Meat and Fish
• Build Muscle and Turn Off Fat-Storing Genes

Maintaining and building muscle is important, especially as we age. Increased muscle mass means a healthier weight, a more toned body, and a better quality of life. However, to reap these benefits, we may need to consume more protein than we currently do. Slimming Drinks provide plenty of plant-based protein, but a serving of lean meat wouldn’t hurt either.

The current US Recommended Daily Intake of protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight, or about 62 grams per day for a 77-kilogram person. A chicken breast has about 20 grams of protein, as does a serving of ground beef, salmon, or a playing-card-sized piece of tofu.

But those who consume twice the recommended protein intake have better net protein utilization and muscle protein synthesis; in other words, they’re more likely to maintain and build muscle.

[Lean Meat Honor Roll]

Chicken, lean ground turkey, lean beef, wild salmon, shrimp, scallops, cod, tuna, halibut.

• Your Favorite Spices
• Turn Off Inflammatory and Weight Gain Genes

Spices benefits

Herbs, spices, and seasonings do more than just add flavor to food. From fighting cancer to regulating insulin response to combating inflammation, many popular spices are star nutrients. The more you incorporate these spices into your daily meals, the better your health and the more satisfied your taste buds will be.

However, while most herbs and spices have powerful anti-inflammatory properties, there’s a difference between what the spices themselves contain and what you actually consume—a phenomenon known as bioavailability.

To test the exact effects of spices after digestion, researchers at the University of Florida and Pennsylvania State University experimented with various spices, having subjects consume large amounts of them daily for a week. They then dripped the subjects’ plasma onto inflamed white blood cells.

The plasma from subjects who consumed cloves, ginger, rosemary, and turmeric was the most potent; in other words, these spices had the highest levels of anti-inflammatory compounds after digestion.

[Skinny Waist Spices Honor Roll]

Black pepper, turmeric, cinnamon, unsweetened cocoa powder (non-alkalized cocoa powder), chili powder, dried thyme, dried rosemary, and dried oregano.

Secret Weapon: Turmeric

This super spice has been a favorite in Indian cuisine and traditional Chinese medicine for centuries, and for good reason. Turmeric contains curcumin, which can slim waistlines, fight chronic inflammation, fight cancer, and increase levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a brain hormone that promotes neuron growth. Turmeric can even help with depression and boost your mood early in the morning.