If
you're struggling to lose weight, depriving yourself of certain food is not
only potentially harmful to your body, but is also totally unnecessary.
Current
thinking dictates that if you choose your food carefully, it will actually help
you lose weight and protect you from a wide range of diseases into the bargain.
For
example, cous cous is an excellent slimming food because it swells in the
stomach, which means we fill up more quickly and tend not to eat so much. And
recent studies from Canada suggest that a key chemical contained in chillies
can boost your body's ability to burn fat and curb your appetite.
And
you may be surprised to learn that some low calorie drinks can really help you
lose weight safely. Diet coke and fizzy water are a good substitute for other
drinks because they contain at least 200 fewer calories than some fruit juices.
Here,
we round up the foods and drinks you should eat to help you slim
Chillies: Recent studies from Canada suggest that a key chemical
contained in chillies could boost your body's ability to burn fat and curb your
appetite into the bargain.
This
is because capsaicin, the chemical that gives chillies such as cayenne and
paprika their characteristic pungency, stimulates a natural process whereby
some of the food we eat at each meal is converted immediately to heat. Called
diet-induced thermogenesis, this process is good news for dieters because it
means we burn up calories automatically rather than storing them.
Carrots: Root vegetables such as carrots, potatoes and parsnips are
particularly high in fibre.
Foods that are high in fibre pass
through the gut more quickly than some other foods. Nutritionists recommend
eating 18 grammes of fibre a day. Juicing root vegetables - such as carrots -
is an ideal way to stock up on fibre and keep slim at the same time. This is
because root vegetables contain high water levels which help to fill you up for
longer - keeping hunger at bay. Also, many root vegetables - such as carrots -
have lower concentrations of calories compared to other foods such as pasta.
Cous
cous: Cous cous is an excellent source of
carbohydrate. As a low fat and low calorie grain, it converts to glucose more
slowly than refined carbohydrates
such as white bread, encouraging
energy rather than lethargy. It also swells in the stomach, which means we fill
up more quickly and tend not to eat so much.
Instead
of adding butter - which is fattening - try adding lemon juice - a good source
of vitamin C. Lemon juice also contains quercetin, which acts an an antioxidant
- our body's defences against free radicals. These are highly-reactive
molecules that may lead to premature ageing and disease.
Pulses: A diet rich in pulses such as kidney beans is high in
fibre.
Research from Minnesota University
shows that men and women who ate at least 21 grammes of fibre a day gained 8
pounds less than people who ate the same number of calories but 40 per cent
less fibre.
Although
eating pulses won't necessarily make you shed pounds, it helps maintain regular
bowel movement because the texture of the fibre helps it move through the
digestive system more quickly than some othe foods.
A
high fibre diet also helps maintain a healthy gut. This is because soluble
fibres create 'friendly bacteria' needed to fight off bad bacteria - meaning
that your body is less exposed to harmful toxins that could cause cancer.
Low-fat
milk: Many dairy products are not as
fatty as people think - and are widely available in low-fat versions. Although
surveys show that many people believe whole milk is 50 per cent fat, in fact it
contains only four per cent fat. A 200ml glass of whole milk actually contains
much less fat than a packet of crisps or a chocolate bar.
If you are on a strict
calorie-controlled diet choose a low-fat version. Semi-skimmed milk, for
example, contains 1.7 per cent fat. Skimmed milk contains 0.1 per cent fat. The
good news is low fat dairy products do not lose any of their calcium content.
Several
pieces of research also show that the calcium dairy products contain can
actually help you lose weight. Two studies by Professor Michael Zemel from the
University of Tennessee in America, published last year, show that a low
calcium diet increases the laying down of fat in the body. It is thought this
is because calcium makes the body heat up slightly - causing it to burn fat
more easily.
Cereals: Research now shows that people who eat breakfast live
longer, have healthier hearts, are less prone to stress and depression and -
perhaps most surprising of all - are slimmer.
'It's
now proven that people who don't eat breakfast will be hungry mid-morning and
will compensate by eating high fat snacks such as crisps or chocolate,' says a
spokesman from the British Nutrition Foundation. 'This, in turn, means they are
more likely to put on weight.'
Cereals
such as All-Bran Plus, Healthwise Sultana Bran, Special K and Weetabix are high
in fibre and/or have a low GI (raise blood sugar levels relatively slowly). The
glycaemic index is a ranking of how quickly foods raise sugar levels - the
lower the GI, the lower the rise.
Foods with low GI can help curb mid-morning snacking by helping you to feel full for longer.
Foods with low GI can help curb mid-morning snacking by helping you to feel full for longer.
And
the good news is even sugar-coated cereals have no more calories bowl for bowl
than other fortified cereals, and because they are highly palatable, they make
it more likely you will stick to a reduced calorie diet.
Green
leafy vegetables:
Eating plenty of spinach, cabbage
and broccoli can prove quite filling. This is thanks to their sheer bulk made
up of plenty of leaves and stalks. Apart from containing folic acid - essential
for nerve function and helping to prevent heart disease - green leafy
vegetables contain trace elements or minerals needed for basic bodily functions
such as cell growth. Broccoli, for example, contains around one-seventh of the
calories found in pasta.
Low
calories drinks You may be surprised to learn that
some low calorie drinks are actually good for you and can help you lose weight.
Diet coke and fizzy water are a good substitute for readymade fruit juice
because they contain at least 200 fewer calories. This is thanks to Aspartame -
a protein sweetner that is made up of amino acids - the building blocks for
protein found naturally in meat and some vegetables. Its intense sweetness
means only tiny amounts of Aspartame are needed to make low calories drinks
making their calories content low.
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