Its easy to lose weight by foods naturally if you take control over what you eat and what you don’t. In other words, you can lose weight easily if you follow a perfect weight loss diet. In this article we will see the 12 best foods to lose weight, foods to reduce bad cholesterol and foods to increase good cholesterol. Millions of users search internet everyday for foods to lose weight naturally.
Developed nations and especially the US are facing a crisis, over the past 35 years obesity increase rate has been doubled with the average American weighing on average 24 pounds heavier than he was in 1960.The impact of obesity has been profound. Our kids are the most affected as they start developing bad eating habits from an early age and carry it to adulthood. Now we all know that the main cause for obesity in people is their bad eating habits. And researches have proven that the obesity is the base for development of almost all Chronic Diseases including Prediabetes, Diabetes, Insulin Resistance, Plantar Fasciitis and Arthritis etc. Hence this is very crucial to control your bad food habits and opt for a good weight loss diet.
People simply take too many calories through the food they eat. It may not be necessarily caused by junk food, everybody knows junk food is bad for their health, but it may be in their daily meals. You may be taking too many carbs during lunch or dinner without even knowing about it.
While there may be foods out there that may be high in calories there are those that are very low and are guaranteed to help you lose weight.
1. Drink Enough Water
Water is the vital part of a weight loss diet. Drinking more water is the first step towards weight loss.
First, drinking more water will increase the amount of calories that your body burns. To release energy your body needs water to burn fat, the more the water the more calories that will burn. Studies say that up to 17000 calories can be burnt in a year by simply increasing your water intake by 17 oz. (0.5 litres).
If you want to make headway with weight loss fast you might want to take the 8 glasses of water a day saying more seriously. Not only will it increase metabolism in your body but it will make you eat less. The old adage that drinking more water reduces your appetite seems to be true. In middle aged adults and older people it was found that drinking more water reduces the amount of calories intake in a meal by up to 13%. So next time you feel thirsty skip the beverage or the cold soda, drink water instead, it’s the only thing that is guaranteed to improve your health.
2. Add Leafy Green Vegetables to Your Weight Loss Diet
Green leafy vegetables are known to be good for your health and they can be really helpful if you want to lose weight by foods. Add green leafy vegetables in your weight loss diet. They contain many antioxidants, minerals and other chemicals which increase your body’s ability to burn fat.Leafy vegetables like kale, asparagus, spinach, cucumbers and so on can also be very helpful in cutting down the amount of stress hormones in your body. These stress hormones increase the fat in your belly. They also contain a fair amount of folic acid which helps in the digestion of protein and increase metabolism.
3. Avocado in Your Weight Loss Diet
Another food that should probably top the list to lose weight is avocado. Much has been said about avocado but we can all agree that in general it is very beneficial fruit four your body. Although it mainly contains good fats and healthy oils, the ‘fruit’ can be a good source of vitamins and nutrients that are helpful for your hair, nails, skin and other elements of your body. It also contains some essential vitamins like vitamin B and vitamin C that are cell repairing Vitamins and more importantly aid in the digestion of carbohydrates, fats and amino acids. It is however worth mentioning that avocado is relatively high in calories ad should be eaten with moderation. So Avocado would be a great addition to your weight loss diet.
4. White Chicken and Lean Beef
One of the most misunderstood meals is red meat. People have put all the blame on red meat as the cause for a myriad of illnesses starting with the latest warning from the WHO relating it to cancer. Despite all saying it is true that fresh red meat has very little to do with cancer in men and in women. It is processed meat that causes all the problems, which contains additives that are very harmful to the body and in my opinion should be outlawed.
Red meat and white chicken have a high protein content, less or no fat; and are known to reduce food cravings by up to 60%. This reduction in food desire can lead to a reduction of almost one pound of your body weight every week. If you are not pure vegetarian, its a good idea to add lean meat in your weight loss diet.
5. Beans – Your Weight Loss Diet Partner
Beans and other legumes contain a relatively high amount of resistant starches. They are also high in protein and will keep you feeling full and therefore reduce your consumption of snacks and the helping lose your body weight.
6. Whole Eggs For Weight Loss Diet
Once hated for increasing cholesterol level high, whole eggs have been making a comeback now. Whole eggs are full of beneficial vitamins and minerals required for our body.
American Heart Association, recommends 300 mg dietary cholesterol for people with normal LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.The real culprit to higher the cholesterol is saturated and trans fats, not dietary cholesterol.
In latest researches it has proven that the saturated and trans fats are the main risks for LDL increase and causing heart diseases, not the dietary cholesterol (in food). In fact tour body needs the dietary cholesterol (in meat and eggs) to make testosterone, a hormone which helps in increasing energy and building muscle.
University of Connecticut has reported the results of a research supporting the notion that eggs are fantastic for you, despite the high cholesterol level.
In their researches they found that the dietary cholesterol in egg yolk has increased the the HDL (Good) cholesterol reducing the level of LDL (Bad) cholesterol. So add whole eggs in your weight loss diet today.
7. Fermented Foods
These are food such as sauerkraut, yogurt and kefir. They are said to have the ability to alter the intestinal microbiome so as to improve metabolism and eventually lead to weight loss.
8. Boiled Potatoes – Weight Loss Diet
At a point in time Europeans survived only on potatoes and it was enough to ensure that they were properly fed and had no nutrient deficiencies. Potatoes are high in potassium which plays an important role in blood pressure control. With a high Satiety Index, potatoes leave you with feeling full and thus reduce your consumption of snacks. This will let you eat less and lose weight naturally.
9. Oats
Oats contain a large quantity of resistant starch and fiber. It will thus boost metabolism in the body and will help lose weight. It will also make you feel full and reduce the desire of eating junks
10. Salmon Fish
Oily fish like salmon has lots of health benefits. They are high in Omega 3 which is a good fat and helps increasing the HDL (Good) cholesterol level reducing LDL (Bad) cholesterol level. If you eat them cooked without oil (roasted), they are helpful losing weight.
11. Red Wine
It is perhaps a little bit surprising to find wine on this list given that it is an alcoholic drink and also known to contain a lot of sugar. Red wine is however a bit different as it contains Resveratrol, a natural phenol that can increase your body’s metabolism for over 90 minutes. You however need to be careful to choose wine that it not very high in sugar contents. Go with varieties like Merlot and Carbernet Sauvignon.
12. Chia Seeds
These are rich in fiber and increase metabolism by smoothening the digestive tract. They also have the ability to absorb liquids making you feel full for longer thus a decrease in food consumption and helping in losing weight.
