Weight loss: Burn belly fat and lose weight by eating this one nut with your breakfast

WEIGHT loss is a goal of many Britons over the summer period but it can be hard to achieve the desired effect. Little tweaks to your diet could make all the difference - and you may want to consider including this tiny but potent food in your breakfast to boost belly fat-torching from the get-go.

weight loss breakfast diet pistachio lose belly fat pistachios

Weight loss: By making savvy food choices, you can often enhance your weight loss efforts (Image: Getty Images)

Weight loss is achievable at breakfast provided dieters are tucking into the right sort of food. Many Britons looking to lose belly fat and slim down like to get the day started right with a healthy breakfast. But what are the best foods to eat on a diet? While there are a plethora of slimming breakfast items to feast on, why not consider including this nut - a study has shown eating it can shrink your waistline.

Weight loss: Why pistachios at breakfast could help you burn belly fat and lose weight

Those tucking into breakfast may want to incorporate pistachios into their diet plan.

One pistachio is around three calories (compared to almonds which are roughly 14 calories each, for example).

They are also high in fibre, lutein, minerals and B vitamins - perfect for a nutritious start to your day and the fibre will keep you feeling fuller for longer.

What’s more, they have been proven to burn fat, according to a study published in the journal Nutrition.

The research saw one group adding pistachios to their diets; they ate 20 per cent of their total calories from the nut, which increased their protein and good fat intake and decreased their carbs (their diets contained 51 per cent carbs, 20 per cent protein and 29 per cent fat).

The control group, which consumed no pistachios, ate a diet that was 60 per cent carbs, 15 per cent protein, 25 per cent fat.

weight loss breakfast diet pistachio lose belly fat pistachios

Weight loss: Pistachios are high in fibre, lutein, minerals and B vitamins (Image: Getty Images)

After six months, participants in the pistachio group had smaller waists (by approximately 0.7 inches).

They also saw their total cholesterol score drop by 15 points. They had better blood sugar numbers and had less harmful inflammation.

Furthermore, a 2015 study in the Journal of the American Heart Association also showed that people who snack on nuts may have lower abdominal fat than those who consume carb-based foods.

Pistachios can be added to smoothies or baked goods, tossed into porridge, mixed into yoghurt or simply consumed on their own.

Pistachio spread is also available from some shops if you’d rather have it on toast in the morning.

However, when it comes to breakfast it’s important not to eat the first meal of the day unless you really are hungry.

weight loss breakfast diet pistachio lose belly fat pistachios

Weight loss: Pistachios can be added to smoothies, tossed into porridge or mixed into yoghurt (Image: Getty Images)

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Julieanna Hever, a plant-based dietitian and author of The Vegiterranean Diet and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition, told nutrition and health website Eat This that it’s key to listen to your body.

“Try tuning into your natural hunger/satiety signals and have breakfast only once you are truly physically hungry.

“Your body knows best about how much and when you need to eat,” Hever told the publication.

What’s more, avoid watching television while eating because munching without distraction is best, The Nutrition Twins, Lyssie Lakatos and Tammy Lakatos Shames, authors of The Nutrition Twins’ Veggie Cure, told Eat This.

“Being focused on the TV takes away the mindfulness of eating and the appreciation of the flavours and textures of the foods you’re putting in your mouth, as well as the size of the portions that you’re eating,” they said.

Be sure to include plenty of protein, too. Protein is a very essential nutrient. If people don't get enough through their diet, health and body composition suffer.

It is one of the main building blocks of the body, used to make muscles, tendons, organs and skin, as well as enzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters and various tiny molecules that serve many important functions.

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