The Best Foods for Building Your Abs

Greens

A little secret to a six pack is that a prerequisite is getting below 10 percent body fat. This means you not only have to shed old fat, but you also have to prevent new fat from being packed on. Regularly eating hearty dark greens like kale and spinach offers two major appetite-suppressing attributes that are key to leaning out: They are mineral-rich, which helps turn off your hunger signal, and also full of fiber, which means they’ll physically fill your stomach for longer periods. Greens don’t have much in the way of carbohydrates, though, so a good strategy is to eat most of your greens later in the day, when your fueling requirements have already been met. A big green salad is ideal for dinner.

Plant-Based Protein with BCAAs

Quick nutrition refresher: Carbohydrates are your muscle’s first choice for fuel when working out at a high intensity. While your body can burn protein and fat for energy, it will do this only after carbs have been depleted, or during less intense endurance workouts. Protein, on the other hand, plays the key role in repairing and rebuilding muscle. Thus, after a workout, drinking an easily digestible, plant-based protein shake will help repair and strengthen – and increase the size of – your shredded muscles. You’ll also  recover faster, which means you’re able to train again sooner. That’s a good thing: More training in less time means reaching your goal faster.

BCAAs (Branched-Chain Amino Acids) are made up of leucine, isoleucine, and valine, three of the essential nine amino acids. They play an integral role in muscle growth, hemoglobin formation, maintenance of energy levels, and protein metabolism. And since they are metabolized in the muscles, BCAAs have an anabolic affect and help prevent muscle tissue loss during times of aerobic training. For this reason, it’s common practice among elite endurance athletes to take them during mileage buildup to prevent their body from eating into its own muscle in search of fuel.

Green Tea

Green tea is thermogenic, which means it’s a substance that induces your body to jack up its temperature, and, as a result, your metabolism. Therefore, green tea will actually help your body shift from relying only on carbohydrates to also burning fat for energy. (And since green tea naturally contains caffeine, it acts as a mild appetite suppressant.) For endurance athletes, this is a huge advantage, as it means they can go farther on less fuel, because the body is burning stored fat in lieu of stored carbs in the muscles. According to a Japanese study, green tea can actually help you go farther, while burning more fat, which will of course eventually better expose those abs you’re so diligently working out. In order to notice an effect though, the research suggests you’d need to become a green tea devotee, consuming four cups per day, every day (no cheating either: mega-doses of green tea extract apparently don’t count).

Medjool Dates

Eating two large medjool dates as a pre-workout fuel as opposed to starchy carbs is an excellent way to efficiently power through a workout. Dates are almost pure glucose, which the body absorbs quickly, and give you a quick burst of easily used fuel instead of getting stuck with excess carbs, which take more time to break down and can lead to weight gain. Getting most of your carbs from glucose-rich fruit such as dates is a wise strategic pre-workout approach when trying to shed abdominal fat.

Note that it’s worth thinking of dates and other high glucose/GI foods the same way that drag racers look at nitrous. They’re great for a quick burst of energy, but they should only be eaten if you have regular slower burning fuel handy throughout the day or you’ll conk out (or crash). Overall, grazing on glucose-rich foods during endurance sports is a good fueling strategy, because glucose burns extremely efficiently and requires little digestive energy.

Cinnamon

Blood sugar stabilization is an important component to developing and maintaining a lean midsection. Sugar levels that spike and drop in peaks and valleys can mess up insulin levels, causing the body to hold onto fat. Cinnamon is naturally good at maintaining stable blood sugar levels, when consumed with fiber, protein and fat. In a Scandinavian study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it was found that three grams of cinnamon (or .6 teaspoons) can reduce blood insulin levels – the hormone responsible for blood glucose levels. An easy way to add it to your diet is to sprinkle a bit of ground cinnamon on your morning oatmeal or cereal; it also makes a great and easy addition to smoothies.

Jicama

Though described unappetizingly by some as a cross between a watery potato and an apple, jicama is fiber- and mineral- rich, has a great, crisp texture, and a neutral flavor, making it a healthy way to feel full for longer (and eat less, allowing you to stay trim and . And luckily, many grocery stores now carry it in their produce section.

Here’s a simple, delicious, high-nutrition but low-calorie recipe that will complement your big green salad and protein shake for dinner:

Jicama sticks
Slice the Jicama length-wise into sticks that are a quarter-inch square in profile, as you would a potato when making fries. Rub each one with lemon juice, then add at bit of cayenne pepper and a small amount of sea salt. Enjoy as a snack, an appetizer or as a side with dinner.

For more tips on leaning out to help expose those abdominal muscles, checkout this episode of ‘Thrive Forward.’

Brendan Brazier is a former professional Ironman triathlete, a two- time Canadian 50km Ultra Marathon Champion, the creator of an award-winning line of whole food nutritional products called VEGA, and the best-selling author of the Thrive book series. He is also the developer of the acclaimed ZoN Thrive Fitness program and the creator of Thrive Foods Direct national meal delivery service. He also just launched ‘Thrive Forward,’ an online video series on wellness.

Recognized as the world’s foremost authorities on plant-based performance nutrition, Brendan works with NFL, MLB, NHL, UFC, PGA, Tour De France, and Olympic athletes and is a guest lecturer at Cornell University, where he presents an eCornell module entitled “The Plant-Based Diet and Elite Athleticism.”