Superfoods for Swimsuit Season

Don't let swimsuit season get you down, I've got the skinny on the superfoods for trimming your waistline and making you look and feel better from the inside out. I've spent the last 28 years in search of the most potent and healing foods and herbs to use in my nutrition clinic, traveling from the dense jungles of the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil to the Himalayan Mountain region of Inner Mongolia and everywhere in between.

While, I've come across some amazing herbs and powerful foods in my travels around the globe, the good news is that several of my most tried and true superfoods for slimming down are available in your local grocery store! Here are my top five accessible and delicious superfoods that will help burn off those extra pounds and give you that radiant summertime glow that will make heads turn.

1. Spice it up with Capsicum & Ginger - Put the spice in your summer refreshment. Capsicum is one of my favorite superfoods because it is chock full of nutrients and medicinal properties. I'll bet you didn't know that a cayenne pepper has more Vitamin C than an orange. And ginger is also an amazing superfood that works wonders for your digestive system, helping to ease indigestion and bloating. So, how do these two potent foods help you slim down for summer? That sizzle on your tongue is the same spark that ignites your internal fire and generates heat, which in turn revs up your metabolism. I recommend drinking a hot unsweetened Chai tea once or twice a day and adding a little fresh ginger and crushed cayenne pepper to jump start your weight loss.

2. Guarana Boosts Energy & Binds the Appetite - This amazing little seed from the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest has over 2.5 times the amount of caffeine as coffee without any of the side effects commonly known in caffeinated coffee. It also boasts theobromine, which is the same active "feel good" compound in chocolate, which counters the negative side effects of caffeine. Guarana is Mother Nature's perfect little energy booster with a bonus - it has also been used traditionally by the indigenous people of the Amazon Rainforest to suppress appetite in addition to boosting energy!

Now, be careful, because a lot of energy drinks tout Guarana as their key ingredient, but these are often loaded with sugars, artificial sweeteners and other harmful ingredients. Be sure to read the label. My top pick for energy is Genesis Today's Wake Me beverage, which is available at Walmart in the refrigerated section next to the Orange Juice. This all-natural beverage contains generous amounts of Guarana and also has 500% of your Daily Value of Vitamin B12 for an added energy boost.

3. Go Green for Beauty - The darker the green, the better the veggie is for you. I could go on and on and on about how Kale, Mustard Greens, Celery, Parsley and all these dark leafy green vegetables help detoxify the blood and balance the body, but I'll just tell you how incorporating them will speed your weight loss. Replace your breakfast with a green veggie juice and you'll enjoy a whole load of alkalinizing beauty benefits.

On top of flushing excess water and toxins, the green juice is loaded with chlorophyll, minerals and numerous plant compounds as well as tons of natural enzymes, which aid digestion and reduce bloat. I understand that freshly juiced Kale and Spinach is sometimes hard to come by, that's why I turn to this new product called GenEssentials Greens, which you can find at Whole Foods and other health foods retailers. These Greens have over 25 billion probiotics per serving, and each serving is chock full of vitamins, minerals, dark leafy green veggies and a plethora of essential herbs to cleanse and nourish the body and support the immune system, brain and eye power - and beauty! I drink them every morning by adding them to my fresh made veggie juice, it's double the benefit.

4. Add a Splash of the Sea - Look at cultures who rely on the sea for the majority of their diet and you'll note that they experience very few weight concerns - obesity is not an epidemic in Japan. That's because the sea is chock full of waistline-friendly superfoods like Kelp, Fish and Algae. Kelp is a sea vegetable that is loaded with iodine, which is the key nutrient for the thyroid gland that is responsible for regulating metabolism. A happy thyroid means happy metabolism, so try adding some dried kelp flakes on top of your salad or adding the powder to your green veggie juice.

Also hailing from the sea are several sources of Omega 3 fatty acids, like Fish and Algae, which are important for supporting healthy weight as well as healthy skin and hair. There are two products I love for Omega Fatty Acids, one is Genesis Today's Omega Orange Juice available at Walmart in the refrigerated section and Genesis Today's Superfruit Omega Gummy Vitamins which are available at Walgreens. Both are excellent additions to a daily diet.

5. B-Vitamin Beauty Booster - If I told you there was one family or group of vitamins that could improve just about every system in your body, make your hair grow thicker, make your nails grow stronger, boost your energy levels and support your metabolism, would you believe me? B Complex Vitamins are one of my secrets to health and beauty, they are key to turning our food into energy (this would be called metabolism) and most people don't get enough in their daily diet. That's because B Vitamins are found in foods like brown rice, liver, and oysters, and they are wiped out of our system by caffeine, stress and alcohol. Additionally, B Vitamins have to be brought into our bodies daily because our bodies do not produce them on their own.

The best way to get your B Vitamins is by eating liver every day. Just kidding! Try a liquid supplement, I recommend one of the Genesis Today juices like Acai Berry Juice, Pomegranate & Berries with Resveratrol or Cranberry Goji Juice. You can find these in the refrigerated section of your local grocery store and they contain 1,000 percent of you daily value of Vitamin B12 as well as strong doses of the rest of the B complex family of vitamins. Have a glass every morning instead of your coffee and you'll notice a dramatic change in your energy levels in only one week, and when your energy is up - so is your metabolism!

Dr. Lindsey Duncan, Guest Editor Dr. Lindsey Duncan has helped celebrities like Demi Moore and Marc Jacobs slim down by learning how to eat healthy and make nutritionally sound choices. Not only has he gained fame through his celebrity clientele, he has also gained notoriety within the nutrition/health field for his work in bringing superfruits/superfoods to the mass market - His passion for superfoods is what put him on the map. His current mission is to bring superfruits to the masses, by single handedly working with Wal-Mart to offer healthier options within their grocery shelves, through his company, Genesis Today.