How Fruit Can Help You Burn Fat

You’ve probably heard before that the antioxidant resveratrol in wine can kick start the fat burning process in your body, and since wine is made from fruit it makes sense that some of that might help your body to burn fat as well. A recent study put fruit to the test and confirmed that the red and blue fruits out there can help keep you thin.

The study was done on mice, and the researchers found that when the mice that were fed 12 ounces of fruit each day they gained 40 percent less fat than the group of mice that wasn’t fed any fruit at all. That amount of fruit for a mouse can be compared to two to three servings for a human.

The key is to eat fruit of course that contains the fat burning resveratrol, which can be found in red and blue fruits like blueberries, apples, red grapes, raspberries, and strawberries. Essentially the resveratrol encourages the body to start the process of converting white fat to brown fat. White fat is the bad kind that we don’t want hanging around on our bodies, while the brown kind is the type that burns extra calories and actually helps keeps out metabolism stoked. This is helpful to our body fat ratio in the short term and in the long run. In the short term you’ll store less fat while you eat, and in the long run you’ll convert more white fat to brown fat and burn more calories even at rest.

One researcher of the study Min Du, Ph.D. described it like this:

“The browning of white fat oxidizes fatty acids, generating heat in the cells, which leads to a ‘leaning’ effect in the body.”

So while fruit can be high in natural sugars, they’re still natural sugars that don’t affect the body the same way as processed sugars. Add in the fat burning power and there’s no reason why eating fruit in moderation shouldn’t be a regular part of your diet.

If you haven’t heard that wine also has these fat burning powers than that’s some more good news for you. It has to be red wine though to get enough of the resveratrol for it to be worth it. And like anything else, keeping the wine within moderation is going to be key to get the health benefits that it can provide without sacrificing your health or waistline.

If you already eat a lot of fruit in your diet, switch over to more of the red and blue kinds to up your fat burning capabilities. If you don’t eat much fruit, now is a good time to add some in. Obviously fruits like apples are very portable and great to take as a snack to work, while berries are perfect for sprinkling on top of oatmeal, yogurt, or mixing into smoothies or juices. Just make sure that if you’re drinking juice that you watch the rest of your fruit intake during the day so you don’t overdo it.