As you can see, there is a vast difference in how much calorie-costly work your metabolism must undertake in order to digest an equivalent amount of active carbohydrate derived from different sources. Suffice to say, eating and digesting 14 cups of lettuce entails much greater thermogenesis than eating and digesting one marshmallow.

Note also from the carbohydrate exchanges above that foods that are carbohydrate-dense tend to be nutrient-sparse, and foods that are carbohydrate­sparse tend to be nutrient-dense.

Therefore, even a modest increase in your daily intake of carbohydrate-sparse foods will substantially increase your nutrient intake. A substantial increase in your daily intake of these foods may even put you on par nutritionally with your ancestors.

The emphasis on the thermogenic/carbohydrate ratio is not meant to imply that you should never eat fruits in the non-HIFWAC category; nor must you completely abstain from other foods with an inferior thermogenic/carbohydrate ratio (like bagels, English muffins, or pasta). It is important to be comfortable and to adapt an Eating Plan to your tastes.

However, with regard to starchy foods, if you are one of those people who "can't eat just one" and finds it more difficult to eat starchy foods in small quantities than not at all, then I recommend eliminating them entirely from your standard fat-burning meals, sticking instead to HIFWAC fruits and non-starchy vegetables.

Below, you will find a list of vegetables with exceptionally high thermogenic/carbohydrate ratio - so high, in fact, that they do not count toward your daily carbohydrate limit. In other words, you can eat them in unlimited quantity. You are encouraged to eat these foods, but watch your toppings/dressings - you must account for them.

Vegetables with the Highest Thermogenic/Carbohydrate Ratio

Asparagus Broccoli Cabbage Cauliflower Celery Lettuce Mushroom Radicchio Radish Spinach

If these vegetables don’t strike you as being among the most appetizing foods you’ve ever eaten, remember, melted butter or melted cheese can do wonders for the taste. And both of these toppings are permissible in moderate quantities.

Furthermore, you will notice from the list that you have the makings of a tasty salad; and since you are allowed to consume fat in moderation, feta cheese, sunflower seeds, and rich dressings are all possibilities. One word of caution, though: many dressings contain more carbohydrate than you might imagine. Be sure to account for the carbohydrate content of the dressing and the croutons if there are any.

Protein Foods

By switching from a carbohydrate-based diet to a protein-based diet, you automatically increase thermogenesis.

There are two exceptions to the rule that protein foods are the most highly thermogenic:

1) protein foods that are high in fat (fat has low thermogenic value) and

2) protein foods that have been processed. A classic example of a highly processed protein food is protein powder. Lunch meats, too, are processed; and have lower thermogenic value than fresh, cooked meat (and they are inferior to fresh meat in all other nutritional respects as well; so don’t rely on lunch meats as your primary protein source.)

In addition to being powerfully thermogenic, meat is an excellent food in terms of its nutritional content. If you are a vegetarian, tofu and other soy-based products are fine substitutes for meat. Soy protein, having been found to improve cholesterol.

When preparing meat, take reasonable measures, like draining grease, to avoid excess fat. It is not necessary, however, to surgically remove all visible fat, a practice common among low-fat devotees. Along the same line, make sure that most of the meat you consume contains more protein than fat. Sausage and bacon are fine every once in a while, but stick to lean meat most of the time.