For many people, summer means more than spending a lot of time outside. It also means shedding off those extra kilos gained over the winter. If you’re looking to lose some weight, you might consider trying one of the many fad diets available that promise to help you achieve your goals.
While there’s no denying that dieting can be motivating, sometimes the desire to eat unhealthy foods is just too strong. If you’re regularly missing meals or feeling deprived, you’re certainly not going to achieve your ideal weight. A healthier option is to focus on food quality instead of quantity, and that’s what this article is going to encourage you to do.
The Basics Of A Healthy Diet
To follow a diet that’s good for your health, you first need to understand what makes up a healthy diet. Simply put, a healthy diet is one that consists of lots of vegetables and fruits, whole grains, fish, and chicken and turkey products. It also includes nuts and seeds as part of a healthy diet. While there isn’t any hard and fast rule, a diet that’s high in fiber and low in added sugar and refined flour is usually considered healthy.
If you’re to succeed on a diet, you need to understand how your body converts food into energy. When you eat, your digestive system breaks down the food into nutrients and stores them in your body. These nutrients are then used to build new cells and tissues as you move through life. Some foods contain nutrients that help your body to maintain a healthy weight while others help you to lose weight.
Vegetables That Help You Lose Weight
If you’re looking to lose some weight and are unsure of which vegetables to consume, this article is for you. Here are some of the vegetables that have been shown in studies to help with weight loss.
Asparagus
This veggie contains zero calories yet is high in fiber. When digested, the food provides your body with essential nutrients and encourages weight loss. According to researchers at the University of Alabama, eating asparagus can help boost your body’s metabolism, making it easier to lose weight. Asparagus is available in season during spring and summer.
Broccoli
This green veggie is loaded with vitamins and nutrients that provide your body with antioxidants. These antioxidants help fight and stop the damage caused by free radicals in your body. Free radicals are unstable molecules that can lead to cell damage and disease. If you’re not producing your own antioxidants in sufficient amounts, you’re putting your health at risk. Some researchers at Harvard University suggest eating more vegetables as part of a healthy diet as it helps prevent the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and certain types of cancer.
Cauliflower
Eating cauliflower is like getting a serving of vegetables in a dessert. The veggie is quite low in calories and has a high Nutrient-to-Carbohydrate Ratio. This means that for every 100 calories you eat, you’ll get almost 45 grams of nutrition. Carbohydrates are the storage form of sugar in your body, so you’ll stay lighter by eating more vegetables. Cauliflower is a great source of vitamin C and antioxidants, such as quercetin and kaempferol. These nutrients help maintain a healthy immune system and fight disease.
Kale
This dark green veggie is low in calories and has a high nutrient density. In one study, men and women who ate a lot of kale lost more weight than those who didn’t eat the veggie at all. Kale’s high nutrient content provides your body with Vitamin K, Vitamin C, and antioxidants. Vitamin C is an important nutrient that contributes to collagen synthesis. This makes it useful for joints and skin. Vitamin K promotes blood clotting, so it’s good for your heart as well.
Spinach
Green spinach contains high amounts of vitamins as well as nutrients that encourage weight loss. One study revealed that women who ate the green veggie at least once a week lost more weight than those who didn’t eat it at all. If you’ve got a lot of weight to lose, green spinach might be the solution for you. This veggie is also rich in antioxidants which play an important role in the body’s defense against free radicals and cell damage. Free radicals can lead to heart disease, cancer, and other diseases. They can also cause cell damage that makes you age more quickly.
Summer Squash
Squash is a vegetable that can be used in a variety of ways. You can eat it raw or cooked. Some types of squash, such as pattypan squash and zucchini, contain high amounts of minerals that are essential for good health. These minerals include vitamin C, fiber, and folate. It’s no wonder that in some countries people consider squash to be a food group in its own right.
There are several different varieties of squash that you may want to incorporate more into your diet. For example, buttercup squash has been shown to reduce cholesterol levels and improve liver function. It also enhances the body’s ability to metabolize fats, so it can help to lower cholesterol and body fat levels. You may find that eating these types of squash can help you to attain more lean body mass. This, in turn, can help to boost your body’s metabolism and encourage weight loss. So try eating more buttercup squash in the summertime if you’re looking to shed off some pounds.
As you can see from the list above, there are plenty of vegetables out there that can help with weight loss. You don’t need to be limited to a specific diet, as long as you eat a healthy diet that includes the above vegetables, you’ll be on the right track to weight loss.