4 Common Foods That Contain Dietary Copper — A MAJOR Fat-Burner
Dietary copper is the fat burner you never knew about – and it's really, really easy to include it in your diet. Just eat more of these four foods...

May 29, 2017

Dietary copper

Photograph by Ted Cavanaugh

Ready to throw back to some heavy metal?

A couple of things: one, dietary copper actually exists. And two, it can help your body torch more fat. Yup, meet the new kid on the metabolism-boosting block…

The science

Seriously. A research team led by a scientist at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and at UC Berkeley has found that copper plays a key role in metabolising fat. “We find that copper is essential for breaking down fat cells so that they can be used for energy,” said lead researcher and scientist Chris Chang. “It acts as a regulator. The more copper there is, the more the fat is broken down. We think it would be worthwhile to study whether a deficiency in this nutrient could be linked to obesity and obesity-related diseases.”

READ MORE: 5 Things You Should Never Do When Starting A New Diet

According to Chang, copper could actually play a role in restoring a natural way to burn fat. The best part? You don’t need to take a supplement – in fact, he warns against supplementation as too much copper can lead to imbalances. But it is found in a bunch of common foods – the good kind. (One is even considered naughty!) “Copper is not something the body can make, so we need to get it through our diet,” said Chang.

“The typical American diet, however, doesn’t include many green leafy vegetables. Asian diets, for example, have more foods rich in copper,” he continues. And we know the majority of us South Africans can be a bit slack with getting in our greens… So, here’s the easy way to get more of these copper-rich fat-burning foods into your diet.

READ MORE: 10 Things That Make Your Metabolism Slow Down

Four copper-rich fat-burning foods

Since copper isn’t usually listed on nutrition labels, here’s how to get more of your suggested daily fill of 1.2mg easily from four top sources.

53%: Slice 1 cup Portobello mushrooms and add to your week-night stir-fry.

17%: Saute 1 cup chopped kale or beetroot leaves and scramble with your eggs.

42%: Have 30g dark chocolate (about 3 squares, 70 percent cocoa or higher) for your sweet fix.

52%: Toss a quarter cup toasted sunflower seeds into your trail mix.

Here are 6 more foods that fire up your metabolism and burn more fat. Plus: 4 things to avoid if you want to keep your metabolism burning.