Seeds of greatness

When losing weight, nuts and seeds should be your dear friend. These little power houses are essential to weight loss. They contain nutrients that can improve your metabolism, eliminate toxins and make weight loss even easier. They contain a compound called lipase that creates a thermogenic effect in the body. Lipase breaks down fat helping prevent weight gain. Not only that, it also has the ability to streamline the entire digestion process and increase the nutritional value of the natural fats we are getting from healthy whole foods, such as raw vegetables.

Given the fast food lifestyle of most people, they consume less-than-optimal amounts of essential fatty acids and enzymes, such as lipase. This can lead to the common effects of indigestion, heart-burn, bloating, abdominal discomfort and gas as a result of eating high-fat foods.

I add nuts, seeds and sprouts to my diet daily so I can maximize their weight loss promoting effect. Everyone knows I love Nutriblasts! I add chia, flax, almonds, or cashews to my shakes. As snacks I eat raw almonds frequently. I top my salads with alfalfa and also a variety of seeds. They make the salads taste great! Don’t forget to add bean sprouts to your favorite stir-fry!

As seeds and nuts are the starting point for a plant, not only are they packed with essential nutrients, they have a good amount of calories. Watch portion size and make sure you are staying within your daily calorie limits. Its very easy to go over board, especially with nuts, they are so tasty. You don’t need a lst to benefit from the fat burning effects. Just 10 – 15 almonds is an ideal snack and just 60 – 90 calories. A teaspoon of seeds to a salad makes it interesting and more weight lose friendly that normal.

Here are some tasty ways to add lipase to your diet:  chickpeas, alfalfa sprouts. almonds, cashew nuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds. Of note, nuts and seeds should be eaten raw as heat destroys the natural enzymes contained in them. Enjoy!