Eat Natural Fat-Reducing Ingredients for an Easy and Healthy Diet

Various Weight Loss Diets

With the development of science and technology, the types of weight loss diets recognized by humankind are increasing, their scope is gradually expanding, and their theoretical basis is constantly deepening. Weight loss diets come in many forms, but they all boil down to staple foods and side dishes. There is much to learn about the preparation methods of staple foods.

For example, to increase the volume of rice, a double-steaming method can be used. This involves first rinsing and soaking the rice, then steaming it for several hours. The steamed rice will be 1 to 2 times larger than the unsoaked rice; the same 50 grams of rice will yield a large bowl of cooked rice. When eating noodles or dumplings, it's best to choose thin-skinned buns or dumplings with large vegetable fillings. Side dishes refer to the main food categories (III) to (VIII) mentioned earlier (please refer to Section 1, Part 2 of this chapter). Many vegetables and fruits are good for weight loss, such as winter melon, lotus leaf, sweet potato, hawthorn, spinach, celery, leeks, rapeseed, chili peppers, watermelon, cucumber, pumpkin, bitter melon, tomato, eggplant, white radish, carrot, daylily, mushroom, bamboo shoots, asparagus, bean sprouts, lemon, grapes, pear, peach, and apple. Other good weight loss foods include black sesame seeds, black carp, kelp, and Job's tears. Studies have shown that these foods help with weight loss because, in addition to being low in sugar and fat, they contain substances that promote fat breakdown, as well as vitamins, crude protein, and crude fiber.

Example 1: Winter melon. The idea that winter melon can help with weight loss has been widely known since ancient times. The *Dietary Therapy Materia Medica* records that winter melon can help with weight loss: "It benefits qi and promotes longevity, and relieves chest fullness… Those who wish to be slim and healthy can eat it regularly; those who want to gain weight should not eat it." According to laboratory tests, winter melon contains urease, adenine, histidine, and trigonelline, among other substances. The pulp contains adenosine, histamine, and vitamins B and C, thus it not only has diuretic, anti-edema, heat-clearing, thirst-quenching, and hemorrhoid-treating effects, but is also a good medicine for weight loss, fitness, and longevity. However, winter melon is slippery in nature; those with cold-dampness in the spleen and stomach, or loose stools, should not use it.

There are many ways to eat winter melon, such as braising, simmering, making soup, porridge, and making winter melon and tofu balls. Winter melon and lean meat ball soup or winter melon and dried shrimp soup are especially fragrant and delicious.

Example 2: Lotus leaf. Lotus leaves are the leaves of the lotus root, containing lotusine and tannins. The lotus leaf stalk, stem, and stamen contain alkaloids and flavonoids. The lotus seedpod and seeds contain β-steroids, alkaloids, and starch. The lotus heart, root, and nodes contain tannins, asparagine, starch, and vitamin C.

According to the *Dietary Therapy Materia Medica*, "Long-term consumption of lotus root lightens the body, promotes longevity, and reduces hunger. Consuming lotus leaves makes one thin and weak." Lotus leaves are bitter, pungent, and fragrant, entering the heart, liver, and spleen meridians. They have the effects of clearing heat and relieving summer heat, eliminating irritability and stopping brown discharge, lowering blood lipids, lowering blood pressure, and aiding weight loss.

Lotus leaves can be used to cook porridge, soup, and rice (when the rice is 70% cooked, place the washed lotus leaves on top of the rice and cover the pot tightly), and can also be made into a beverage to replace tea.

Example 3: Sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are also called yams, red potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Modern medical research has proven that sweet potatoes have multiple benefits, including weight loss, beauty enhancement, brain health, improved nervous system function, and prevention of constipation. Chemical analysis shows that sweet potatoes contain estrogen-like substances, which have significant effects on smooth skin and delaying aging, making them an excellent food for beauty. The dehydroandrostenedin they contain has unique effects in preventing and treating breast cancer and colon cancer; the phosphatidylcholine they contain can improve brain cell function, making them a good food for brain health; the vitamin A they contain has special nutritional functions for visual cells; and B₁, B₂, and C can regulate metabolism and soften blood vessels, especially cerebral capillaries. Sweet potatoes also contain nine amino acids needed by the human body, as well as minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, and iron.

Sweet potatoes have significant weight loss effects. According to analysis, every kilogram of sweet potato contains 290 grams of sugar, 2 grams of fat, and 20 grams of protein. Compared with the same weight of pasta, its calorie production is only about 35% of that of pasta. That is to say, 3 kilograms of sweet potato and 1 kilogram of pasta produce roughly the same amount of calories. Therefore, scientists in Japan and the United States are researching the possibility of growing sweet potatoes in spacecraft as a space crop for astronauts to eat, in order to control their weight. Obese patients often have hyperactive stomachs and a particularly good appetite, while sweet potatoes are low in calories and large in volume, providing a feeling of fullness and easy digestion without causing fat accumulation and weight gain.

Sweet potatoes are slightly acidic and should not be eaten in large quantities to avoid disrupting the body's normal pH balance and causing excessive stomach acid. Autumn is the peak season for persimmons and sweet potatoes. The tannins in persimmons can easily combine with the hydrochloric acid in sweet potatoes to form stones, so sweet potatoes should not be eaten with persimmons.

Sweet potatoes can be prepared in many ways, such as roasting, braising, making porridge, soup, and candied sweet potatoes. Stir-fried sweet potatoes with green pepper strips is a particularly delicious and flavorful dish with a strong Sichuan flavor.

Example 4: Bean sprouts. Bean sprouts are a traditional Chinese vegetable, and along with tofu, soy milk, and soy sauce, they are considered one of the "Four Great Inventions" of Chinese cuisine.

Bean sprouts (yellow and green bean sprouts) are not only delicious and suitable for all ages, but also highly nutritious and have medicinal value. Soybean sprouts are high in water content and low in calories, making them an ideal vegetable for weight loss and fitness. After soybeans sprout, their carotene content increases threefold, vitamin B₁₂ increases fourfold, and vitamin C increases 4.5 times. Regular consumption of soybean sprouts is not only beneficial to health, but also has a certain preventive and therapeutic effect on hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, coronary heart disease, arteriosclerosis, angular cheilitis, glossitis, keratitis, anemia, and neurasthenia. Chemical tests have shown that the aspartic acid in bean sprouts has a fatigue-relieving effect. The Holston Cancer Institute in Texas, USA, found that the chlorophyll in bean sprouts also has anti-cancer properties.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that bean sprouts can "detoxify alcohol and heat, and benefit the three jiaos (upper, middle, and lower burners)." The great Chinese physician Li Shizhen wrote in his *Compendium of Materia Medica*: "All beans are tough and unpalatable, but the sprouts of this bean are uniquely white and beautiful. Modern people consider them commonplace, but the ancients were unaware of this." He also said, "Eating it cleanses the mind and nourishes the body."

Food is also a culture. Like tofu, bean sprouts are not only loved by the Chinese people, but also by foreigners. Bean sprouts have long since gone global. It is said that in 1919, Li Shizeng and Zhang Jingjiang opened a tofu shop in Paris, France, which also sold bean sprouts and was very popular. Today, bean sprouts are very popular in Europe, America, and Southeast Asia, with western Germany being the most popular. People like to eat bean sprouts because they not only help with weight loss and digestion, and have anti-cancer properties, but are also nutritious, tender, crisp, and inexpensive.

Example 5: Chili peppers. Modern medical and nutritional studies have proven that eating chili peppers can help with weight loss. Research by experts from Tokyo Metropolitan University and Kanazawa University in Japan has shown that capsaicin in chili peppers can accelerate the breakdown of fat in the human body, preventing fat accumulation and weight gain.

Chili peppers are not only a delicious condiment but also a staple of traditional cuisine. Examples include dried chili strips, chili chicken strips, chili soybeans (with lean meat, peanuts, dried shrimp, etc.), braised chili peppers, jade-green bell peppers (steamed with lean meat stuffed in bell peppers), chili flat beans, and pickled chili peppers (an essential ingredient in Sichuan cuisine's "fish-fragrant shredded pork"). These dishes are colorful, flavorful, and fragrant, making them very popular.

Example 6: Kelp and Plum Tea. Steep a small amount of kelp strips (powder or slices) and 1-2 dried plums (preserved plums, sour plums, or salted plums are all acceptable) in 100-150 ml of boiling water to make a beverage to drink as tea. This "tea" contains citric acid, which can remove metabolic waste such as lactic acid accumulated in muscles, improving muscle tension and elasticity. Therefore, it can cure obesity caused by muscle relaxation due to hypothyroidism.

Example 7: Lemon Juice Drinks. A recent report cited a new research finding from Yale University in the United States: consuming lemon juice drinks before meals can suppress appetite, especially for oily foods. Before lunch, participants were given four drinks: three types of lemon juice containing saccharin, fructose, and glucose, and water. The results showed that those who drank the fructose-fortified lemon juice consumed 20-40% fewer calories than others. These individuals also unconsciously chose lighter, less fatty foods during their meals.

Example 8: Weight Loss Foods. According to doctors at Beijing Children's Hospital, "Weight loss foods are various snacks made from soybeans, flour, eggs, dietary fiber, and other seasonings through complex processing. They contain no drugs and are nutritional products. Children who consume them report feeling full after eating only a small amount, and their bowel movements increase."