No one needs to tell you that fries and hamburgers arent the
best foods to lose weight, nor that whole grains are. But not every kind of food is so clear cut. To clear up some of the confusion about good or bad foods, consider the following.
Fat can be Good
What? Good fat? That doesnt sound right, does it? Im here to tell you that it is. There are heart-healthy fats and those that are really bad for your heart--you know that. There are also fats that are particularly good for you when you want to lose weight, and there is a lot of overlap between those heart healthy fats and the weight loss promoting fats.
Avocados--These poor maligned fruits are actually one of the healthiest fat sources in nature. Fat in avocadoes is monounsaturated and high in oleic acid. Oleic acid helps control diabetes and regulates fat levels in the body, it also helps to lower cholesterol levels and triglycerides.
They contain very high levels of fiber, which helps reduce cancer and heart disease, and they have more potassium than bananas. They are perfect for pregnant women as well as they contain nearly 1/3 of the folate needed each day to reduce the risk of neural tube defects.
Olive Oil--The medical community finally understand the benefits of a diet rich in olive oil. This oil is high in those all important monounsaturated fats which we already discussed above. The earlier the pressing, the more benefits your olive oil contains.
Choose Extra Virgin pressings or Virgin pressings to ensure that you get the most polyphenols chemicals that help prevent heart disease. From a health perspective, you are best off substituting olive oil for other types of fat. You can use it in baking as well as salads.
Coconut Oil--Another unexpectedly beneficial fat is coconut oil. While it is solid at room temperature, a generally accepted sign of a fat to avoid, coconut oil is different. The key component of coconut oil that makes it so healthy is the fact that the fat in this oil is composed of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA).
These acids are highly digestible, and unlike long-chain fatty acids, are easily recognized and broken down by the body for use as energy. They dont get stored as fat or contribute to arthrosclerosis. Additionally, coconut oil contains antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties and has been effective in alleviating the symptoms of a variety of intestinal ailments. This makes it not just one of the best weight loss foods, but healthy in other ways as well.
Supposed "Weight Loss Foods" to Avoid
Artificial sweeteners top the list of foods to eliminate from your diet. While you may think you are doing yourself some good by opting out of the calories associated with sugar-sweetened drinks, studies show that they actually work an opposite effect.
The mismatch in the brain between the sweet flavor and caloric input seems to lead to an inclination to overeat. The issue is still being researched, but it is best to simply eliminate artificial sweeteners entirely.
Milk is another food that is often touted as extremely healthy. The truth is that commercially pasteurized milk no longer contains any of the digestive enzymes that come in raw milk.
That makes digestion of milk solids difficult, the calcium hard to obtain and milk contains saturated fats if it isnt of the skim variety. Unless you are getting raw milk products, give them up.
Finally, wheat. Even whole wheat is a poor nutritional choice. From the standpoint of your health wheat offers few vitamins and minerals, unless it has been supplemented.
If you still crave bread, get bread made from sprouted grains. Pasta, pastries and cereals often create an inflammatory response, decreasing your ability to absorb essential nutrients as well.
Once you start by adding the best foods to lose weight and eliminating many others, you are well on your way to eating properly and are likely to start seeing some weight loss right away. Of course, there is much more to proper eating, so learn everything you can and get beyond the idea that dieting is the right way to drop those unwanted pound.
