Is there anyone who isn't dieting these days? No carb, low carb, low calorie, low fat, Atkins, Dukan, South Beach, California, lo GI, high fibre, I could fill this article with fad diets. Often these cause water weight loss, which invariably returns like many bad pennies. Sometimes they cause real weight loss but the dieter gains a very bad mood. My father always used to say eats everything in moderation and exercise and the scales will be fine. But what if there were some foods that could tip them, just a little, in your favour. Fat burning foods? Could this miracle even be possible?

Manisha Malhotra, administrator of Mittal Champions Trust, thinks it can. She says that there are foods that can burn fat better than others. Foods that use more energy to digest work in this manner. But there is a rider. You can't eat a cartload of French fries and then munch celery sticks and hope the fat doesn't stick. It will and in all the wrong places. But if you do load up on some fat burners, then you can increase your metabolic rate that can help you shed those extra kilos. We will reveal some of these fat zappers to you but first, a little science.

How does fat get deposited in all the wrong places? The body needs energy to function. The energy from foods is measured in layman terms are ‘calories'. The more calories, the more energy. The body also uses some of this energy to digest the food itself so some old energy gets used to make new energy. Ergo, the harder the food is to digest, the more energy it uses. The food consumed gives fuel to the body in the form of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. It uses what it needs and stores the rest as fat in fat cells. Now the tricky part. There are limited fat cells and when those are filled up, fat gets stored in muscle linings. The more fat deposited, the more they expand and then it becomes flab and the trouble.

Now some foods contain certain vitamins and minerals that help improve body metabolism and improves fat burning capacity. Others contain low calories but require greater digestion making what they use greater than what they give. (This is why sometimes too much of a low calorie intake often make people feel weak and tired)

Eating some of the fat burning foods, in the right quantities, over a period of time, your fat profile will reducing. Here's the list:

Citrus fruits: These are probably the number one fat burning foods. Starting the day with a breakfast of citrus foods will definitely show positive results. Citrus fruits provide easy energy to spike metabolism while supplying a vitamin C booster, which is scientifically known to bust the fat.

Oats: Oats are great foods to wolf down because a large portion of their calorific content comes from fibre. This Fibre tricks you in to feeling full and fibre makes your gut work harder.

Vegetables: Veggies like broccoli, spinach, peas, cabbage and carrots are excellent providers of minerals while being low on calories and high on fibre. One more reason to eat your veggies!

Lentils: These foods are not only filling and nutritious but also jam-packed with proteins/amino-acids; all good for keeping the fat cell count down.

Poultry: For the non-vegetarian, chicken, chicken chicken. Its lower on fat than red meats and because it is high protein, its more complex to assimilate and digest. Avoid the skin and go for leaner cuts whenever possible.

Almonds and Walnuts: Haven't you had a bowl of almonds as a bar snack and then felt too full for a big main course? These fantastic snack foods can help you feel satiated with just a fistful of these nuts. Nuts are a great factory for good fats that you should eat because people who don't consume healthy fats are more likely to gain weight than people who do.

Fish: Fish is a mine of protein and healthy fats (romega-3, omega-6), and in particular salmon, mackerel, trout and tuna are not only tasty are the ones which will help you turn the fight the flab.

Water: The world's super drink! No calories. Not one single one. And a real fat burner because it ups the metabolic rate and helps melt the fat away.

Now take your pick, mix and match, and transform in to a lean, mean fat burning machine!

ANY DIET / NUTRITION PLAN SHOULD BE UNDERTAKEN AFTER CONSULTING A DOCTOR.