Tips on Foods for Weight Loss: The Four Essentials

We’re so inundated with information about foods for weight loss that we’ve lost sight of the basic reasons that make these foods for weight loss effective.  Trying to keep track of the latest and greatest report leaves us dizzied at the market at what we should be buying to put on the table at home.

The fact is that foods for weight loss all have some common characteristics that are easier to remember when we look at the food groups as a whole.  The following are tips on foods for weight loss that will make your food choices much simpler.

• Vegetables

Vegetables have always been and always will be foods for weight loss.  Vegetables pack a wallop in terms of nutritional value per bite.  Most of them contain very little calories, yet they offer up some of the most important nutrients that foods for weight loss can offer.

Vegetables contain fibre which is important for overall digestive health.  When our digestive tract is running smoothly, overall health is improved and weight loss is easier.

Vegetables contain antioxidants which are imperative in foods for weight loss.  They provide our body with the ability to fight free radical damage.  Our cardiovascular systems are healthier because of that and we are able to lose weight more easily via exercise.

• Lean protein

Lean protein is a must in the foods for weight loss category.  Protein is essential to our bodies.  We need the essential amino acids contained in protein sources for optimum health.  Without it, our immune systems suffer and our muscles are weak.

However, all protein is NOT created equal.  Protein from non-lean sources such as fatty cuts of meat cause other problems; weight gain is only one of them.  Diets high in saturated fat contribute to cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes and certain types of cancer.

Protein sources that are foods for weight loss are lean and also contain unsaturated fats along with less saturated fat.  Unsaturated fats such as omega 3 fatty acids can decrease LDL (bad cholesterol) and increase HDL (good cholesterol). 

Lean cuts of beef and pork are foods for weight loss.  Fish, shell fish and poultry are also great sources of protein.  They pack the most punch per calorie and are most definitely foods for weight loss.

• Whole Grain Carbohydrates and Fruit

While carbs have gotten a bad reputation, good carbs such as whole grains and fruit can be foods for weight loss when they replace bad carbs such as refined sugars.

We need some amount of whole grain carbohydrates in our diet to provide us with energy and insoluble fibre as well as other important nutrients such as B vitamins.

Fruit is one of the foods for weight loss because it can replace sweet treats such as biscuits or cakes when our cravings guide us towards something sweet.

• Flavour

This isn’t a food group, but things like vinegars, pepper sauces, Dijon mustards and the like are excellent foods for weight loss because they can replace fattier flavourings such as butter or creamy dressings in order to make veggies and lean proteins more flavourful and appealing.

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