Best food to improve your health and weight

[bradwilson]

Foods to promote weight loss are as follows:

Fruits

Fruits rich in vitamin C are best to lose weight. Daily intake of fruit washes the excessive fats in the body with the help of the vitamin C. Fruits like Oranges, grapes, and pomegranates if eaten either before or after a lunch can help you to reduce weight. Apples, Bananas, Goji berries, blue berries, Avocado are also very much useful to weight loss. Remember that regular intake of the fruits is necessary if you want to see the visible results. You should at least eat the fruits regularly for about 3 months then only you will be able to experience the weight loss effect.

Vegetables

Spinach, Lettuce, carrots, Cauliflower, and tomatoes are found to be very useful foods for the weight loss. These vegetables are rich of the proteins and fibers that reduce the fat content in the body by breaking down the fat molecules. Even with the help of vegetables the urge of hunger is also reduced which in turn helps to burn more carbohydrates that are stored in the body leading to the weight loss. Vegetables not only reduce your weight but they also help to keep you weight in control. Herbs like Tarragon can also be used for weight loss.

Sardines

Sardines are the fish species that could help the fat men to loss weight. Sardines as a food are very rich in minerals and vitamins that works by stabilizing the blood sugar levels and stimulates the fat metabolism. Sardines when eaten at least thrice in a week shows very good results of weight loss. Men or women who regularly eat Sardines never suffer with the problems like obesity and heart diseases.

Green Tea

Green Tea is not a food item, but still can be included in the daily diet regime to reduce the excessive weight. It was observed during the studies that green tea stimulates the fat metabolism and promotes the weight loss. Green tea washes out the unsaturated fats deposited in the body and cuts down the carbohydrates level in the body.
Soup

Drinking soup of vegetables can help you to lose weight. Vegetable soup is rich source of minerals, proteins, and vitamins that reduces the hunger urge in an individual and controls his weight gain. In spite of taking heavy meals you can include soup in your daily diet routine; this will help to reduce the carbohydrates and fats in the body and will induce weight loss.

with regards,
BRAD

[derat]

Very well detailed post...
Can I try getting into trouble by saying its what you eat, rather than exercise, that will make you lose weight;
Not that exercise is bad, on the contrary, its just for a different purpose...

[Elisha]

I also think it’s a good post, Brad. I agree, fruit and vegetables are definitely the best foods to lose weight with. The only thing confusing me is that according to my sources on the net many fruits you have listed are actually rather high in sugar: Bananas, pomegranates and grapes seem to contain a lot of it, and oranges also have quite some sugar in. These sources say if you want to lose weight, you should not eat so much of these but rather focus on fruits low in sugar, like lemon, rhubarb, rasp- and blackberries, papaya, peaches, melons and so on. Although it seems that different people have different opinions. Apples for example I found listed once as high in sugar and once as low to medium amount of sugar content fruit. I think the best thing to do is to have a bit of everything and not loads of one fruit.

You should also upgrade your carbohydrates, meaning to eat more wholegrain products instead of refined (white) bread, pasta, rice and processed cereal. Whole grains are high in fiber, and their carbs are absorbed more slowly, keeping the blood sugar level more constant. They also make you feel full quicker and you don’t get hungry quickly after eating them.

Green tea is in general very healthy and has many benefits for you in store. It’s only disadvantage is that it contains caffeine, meaning it also raises your heart frequency. You can get used to that. I found, for example, when I was in Argentina and drinking lots of Mate there which is a green tea, that initially I couldn’t fall asleep if I drank it in the evening. But after a while I just got used to it. It’s a great drink, though I would not recommend it for people sensitive to caffeine or people with tachycardia (increased heart frequency). If you take weight loss supplements or drugs to enhance your weight loss, you should rather not drink so much green tea when your supplement increases the heart beat.

To Derat, I would like to say: Eating healthy does contribute a lot to losing weight and it’s essential for keeping a healthy weight but I would not say that eating right is the ultimate solution and exercising is absolutely unnecessary. You see, if you want to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you eat. You can either reduce your calorie intake by eating healthier, increase your calorie consumption by being more physically active or combine both of these, meaning you eat healthier and are more active. The last way to me seems the best and most effective one.

If you want to lose weight just by changing your eating habits, it will take much longer. And exercising does not necessarily mean to go to the gym. Even 20 minutes of physical activity each day that you did not do before will make a difference. For example if you walk to the post office three streets away instead of taking the car. If you take your dog for a walk or you play soccer with your kids, that also counts as activity and will help you to lose weight.

You should also consider that being overweight is not always the result of unhealthy eating alone. My sister in law for example started picking up a lot of weight when she started with three-monthly injections for contraception. Many medications can make you pick up weight, and you won’t get that off with healthy eating. You only can really lose that weight when you change the medication. So if you battle to lose weight, you should speak to your doctor and find out if there your overweight is not caused by any disease or medication.

Think I should stop now before you guys think I want to write a book about weight loss nutrition…

Greetings to all
Elisha ;)

[Semigourmet]

Great Post Brad!! Good read!

I am lucky my Husband loves veggies so we get a lot around here. Everyone that comes over here to have dinner always remarks (WOW You guys eat so healthy! This is the way we should be eating too) I cook a lot of Asian Style Stir fries, and egg foo young, salads, and incorporate FRESH veggies into EVERY meal. for instance I make a stuffed meatloaf (lead food) and fill it with mashed potatoes and fresh baby spinach or peas etc. Also I try to make my own salad dressings to get away from the Preservatives, salt and MSG. I have lowered my husbands blood pressure cutting salts and adding Natural spices and herbs. He also loves fish. So I keep plenty of it around Salmon, Shrimp, Flounder, Cod etc...

He is diabetic and he is doing great with his A1C levels. But his diagnosis made me Much more aware of how we were eating, at the time mostly restaurant foods. Now it is RARE that we go out to eat. So I started researching and cooking better foods for him and it has helped a lot. I even feel better when I eat better.

We have a Staffordshire Bull Terrier and we walk him twice a day, I walk in the the mornings and Hubby has to walk him in the evenings. It has helped his Blood sugar stay on a more even keel.

I think the one point we have all missed so far is WATER! I have finally gotten my husband to drink more water. He now takes a reusable water bottle to work with him and drinks at least three, 20 ounce bottles of water a day now verses, maybe 2 glasses if I was lucky. Water is the lubricant we need for our joints, flushes our system and just generally makes the body feel better. Okay my turn to STOP! LOL Glad you're here Brad!

[lovely09]

I bookmarked the page and it is very informative.Yeah,i agree water is very essential to everyone.Keep drinking eight glasses of water or more a day to keep our body more healthy.

[cookiefan]

Lots of great information here for healthier eating. If I had to choose just one thing, I would say increase the amounts of fruits and vegetables in your diet. Most of us don't get enough. They are relatively low in calories, and high in fiber, vitamins and minerals. It's one of the most important lessons from my time with Weight Watchers.

These days I try to live a balanced life and taking most of my advice from listening to my body and less to what all the "experts" profess. (The amount of conflicting nutritional information out there is mind boggling!)

________________________
Martha
http://www.best-ever-cookie-collection.com
http://www.simple-nourished-living.com

[shubh]

Though the suggestions are really good and practical but I think the consultation with dietitian is also necessary. People may have different internal problems and tendencies, so one diet plan may not be good for all.

[heavydrinker]

Best food are those rich in fiber , low in sodium as well as low sugar ..I guess those are I consider healthy diet and it also helps control our weight too

[cool12dude]

I think best foos to improve your health and weight is banana shake.

[SharOnNutrition]

Grains helped me lose weight and control my hunger since they are filling (but not on calories). You can simply swap refined pastas and breads for whole grain items. On my blog, I've recently written a post about the importance of grains and details on certain grains along with recipes: http://www.shar-on-nutrition.com/

Would love to know what you think! :)

[uhana]

can you tell me something about wheat....is it helpful in reducing weight....

[Big Daddy's House]

Not sure if it helps in weight loss, but it IS a very good source of fiber, and it helps to keep your digestive system working properly.

[anie_b]

Fruits, Vegetables, Salads and soup could really be beneficial for your health. Thanks for the information.

[Klingon]

To ensure good health is to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. However, fruits and most vegetables are restricted in the initial phase of some low carbohydrate diets; they are usually allowed later back in limited amounts. The phytonutrients that come from a diet rich in fruits and vegetables have been shown to decrease blood pressure, as well as protect against cancer, heart disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity.

[missy]

Salad is best for your health.

I agree http://i914.photobucket.com/albums/ac347/missynme/cd/yes.gif

[dacon]

I think food is 100% responsible for your good health.
Though the suggestions are really good and practical but I think the consultation with dietitian is also necessary. People may have different internal problems and tendencies, so one diet plan may not be good for all.

[suke]

A very well organised and good healthy diet posted.good job done.