It is possible to burn fat through diet and nutrition alone. Learn how to create an alkaline environment within your body, follow the 20 to 1 rule at lunch and dinner and drink the right kind of water.
Are there foods that can really help burn fat if we eat them? Can you give us an example?
Dr. Jan Kasprowicz: Absolutely. First we must understand why the body actually retains body fat. Your body doesn’t retain body fat because you eat fat. The reason why your body retains fat is because your internal environment inside your body is acidic. What the body does, it has this buffering system, to go ahead and try to buffer out acidity within your body. Now what creates acid? First thing that creates acid is your daily stress. Another thing that creates acid is any and all animal products. That’s chicken, that’s beef, that’s pork, all dairy products including yogurt, caffeine is extremely acidic.
Now, when you have all these acidic ingredients in your body, the body needs a buffering mechanism. The first thing the body does, it goes ahead and starts leeching calcium out of your bones. Actually, it diminishes the amount of calcium in your bones, making your bones weaker. The body understands that this calcium is actually meant for structure and stability, so what it does, it actually holds onto body fat as a buffer. The number one way to go ahead and reduce body fat purely through nutrition and food is to create an alkaline environment within your body.
Now, alkaline foods are anything and everything green. You’re talking about broccoli, you’re talking about asparagus, dark, leafy greens, cucumbers are fantastic, avocados are wonderful. Even though avocados are primarily all fat, they are extremely alkaline, which will actually stimulate the body to burn fat. If you’re creating an alkaline environment within your body, the brain understands this and it literally will start releasing body fat. It will not hold onto body fat.
Breakfast is the first meal of the day, so what should we be eating to prepare our bodies to burn more fat throughout the day?
Dr. Jan Kasprowicz: I recommend that all of our clients, our athletes and also our total body conditioning patients start their day with what’s called a green shake, or an Elite Green, which is a product that we recommend. You can make a green shake easily at home. All you need is a NutriBullet. Inside a NutriBullet you could put kale in there, you could put some cucumber, some alkaline water. That’s a fantastic way to start your day. You could also utilize a supplement called Elite Green, which is actually a detoxifier. It also provides lots of antioxidants in the body. It has lots of different dark, leafy greens, lots of vegetables in there as well. It’s much more convenient than having to carry a NutriBullet around with you at work.
In regards to food, you want to start your day with eating something alive. Most people eat foods which are dead. There’s no nutrients in them because they’re not alive. Nutritious food that’s a great way to start your day is with some type of vegetable, some type of fruit. This way, you wake up in the morning, you’re eating breakfast. Breakfast stands for breaking fast. You want to make sure that when you break this fast from sleeping, it’s with live food. It’s not with toast, it’s not with eggs, definitely not with bacon, definitely not with some pancakes or something. You want to start your food with something alive and vibrant.
In terms of meal planning, what would be an ideal lunch and dinner for someone trying to burn fat?
Dr. Jan Kasprowicz: Once again, in regards to eating food to reduce the amount of fat on your body composition, you want to make sure that you’re eating vegetables. Now personally, I’m vegetarian, but I’m not telling everybody to become a vegetarian. You can still eat your lean cuts of chicken and beef as well. If you’re going to choose to eat those foods, you want to make sure that you’re providing enough alkalinity to those meals. If you’re eating lunch or for dinner, let’s say you’re having some grilled chicken for lunch. You want to make sure that there’s a twenty to one rule, which means twenty parts of your plate should be consisted of salad and dark, leafy greens, and vegetables to that one part of chicken.
Same thing is for dinner, if you’re going to be eating some type of meat. Let’s say you’re going to have a filet mignon. Make sure that the filet mignon is not the size of your entire plate, it’s not some porter house steak, but you’re abiding by the twenty to one rule, where you’re going to have one part of the animal protein and then have the other twenty parts be vegetables. Either it being broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, asparagus, peppers, tomatoes, you always want to make sure you’re always eating a substantial amount of vegetables and dark, leafy greens with every meal.
We know how important it is for our bodies to drink lots of water, but does water or other beverages like coffee or tea play a role in burning fat?
Dr. Jan Kasprowicz: Yeah, water is absolutely huge with burning fat. Here’s the issue with … Well, first and foremost, caffeine beverages such as coffee, that does not burn fat. Coffee is purely acidic, so that’s going to prevent your body from releasing body fat. Your body only holds onto body fat if your internal environment is acidic. Drinking caffeinated teas, or caffeinated coffees, that’s acidic, so right there, that’s going to make your body hold onto body fat. Now the issue with water … There are different types of water out there.
A lot of people drink Poland Spring and Deer Park. Unfortunately, those waters are acidic. There’s a pH scale of zero to fourteen. Zero is pure acid. Fourteen is pure base. Water is supposed to be seven. Deer Park and Poland Spring are both about four point five on that pH scale. You want to drink water which is anywhere from nine to ten on the pH scale. If you drink more alkaline water, it’s going to make your internal environment more alkaline, therefore it’s going to have your body release body fat.
If we get hungry late at night before bed, are there any smart food choices, or should we try to not eat at all?
Dr. Jan Kasprowicz: Well, you should always try to curb your meals, probably around 7:00 at night. If you are going to eat something prior to going to bed, you want to eat something which is not going to contain too many empty calories. I definitely would not have a banana, because if you’re going to eat something like a banana, there’s lots of sugar in there, a good amount of calories in there as well. If you’re going to have anything, I would recommend having a bowl of blueberries with some strawberries in there. You can mix a little bit of coconut in there, and possibly even some chia seed, ground chia seed just to give it a little bit more taste. This way it’s kind of like having the desert prior to going to sleep but you’re also not increasing too much sugar into your bloodstream either.
If you are interested in speaking with Dr. Jan Kasprowitz, visit www.chiropracticandsportsrecovery.com, or call 917-748-2902 to schedule an appointment.
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