Fitness
13 Excuses Super-Fit Chicks Never Make
Diet
10 Ways to Lose 5 Pounds by This Weekend
Sure, a months-long healthy diet is the real key to lasting weight loss. But you can lose weight quickly and safely. Here's how
Get Bitter
Don't get all "Eww, bitter!" on us just yet. Another healthy way to lose 5 pounds fast is to simply eat one serving of bitter-tasting food, per meal, for three meals a day. These pound-shedders include kale, arugula, olives, almonds, miso, collard greens, mustard greens, radish, dandelion leaves, and radicchio. Mix them into an omelet, soup, sauté, or even a smoothie."Taste is one of the five corporeal senses, and bitter is a hardwired catalyst for our bodies," says Stephan Dorlandt, a Los Angeles-based clinical nutritionist. "Bitter food stimulates saliva, gastric juice, and bile secretions. These chemical reactions boost digestion, burn fat, detoxify the liver and gallbladder, prevent constipation, and reduce sugar cravings." He says bitter greens are also among nature's healthiest foods in terms of vitamins and minerals like vitamin A, potassium, magnesium, vitamin K, vitamin B1, calcium, and chlorophyll.
What's more, Dorlandt notes that aperitifs, the fancy drinks traditionally served before elegant dinners, are, yes, bitter. (Heck, one drink is even called "bitters.") The French word "aperitif" is derived from the Latin verb "aperire," which means "to open," since the bitter aperitif opens the digestive system to prepare it for a sumptuous meal. Now, this doesn't mean we suggest you drink your daily bitter consumption. But Dorlandt does say that just like the boozy preface to many French meals, you should eat the bitter part of your meal first.
SEE NEXT PAGE: Take More Deep Breaths
5 of 11
