Healthy Super Foods

Super foods are densely packed with nutritional elements that can fight free radicals and promote weight loss. Including super foods in your diet can decrease sick days and improve or prevent health problems, including diabetes and high blood pressure, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Low-Fat Yogurt

Low-fat yogurt contains active live cultures, good bacteria that can support digestive health and boost the immune system. Yogurt is also a good source of protein and calcium, which can help promote weight loss by increasing fat breakdown in fat cells. A study by researchers at the University of Tennessee found overweight people who ate three servings a day of calcium-rich dairy lost more belly fat than those on a similar diet with fewer diary servings.

Oatmeal

Oatmeal and other whole grains such as brown rice and high-fiber cereals contain soluble fiber that can help reduce body fat. A 2008 study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that overweight dieters who ate four to seven daily servings of whole grain foods lost twice as much abdominal fat as those who ate refined foods.

Turkey or Chicken

Turkey and chicken breast are good sources of lean protein that can help dieters achieve weight loss goals by slowing down digestion and insulin production. Eating lean proteins helps makes it easier for the body to break down and use stored fat for energy, explains Dr. Deborah Friedson Chud, author of "The Gourmet Prescription."

Eggs

Eggs are a good source of protein, and they contain vitamin B12, which is used by the body to metabolize fat. Researchers at Louisiana State University found that people who ate eggs for breakfast every day lost more weight than those who ate bagels. Fitness model Tosca Reno, author of "The Eat-Clean Diet," recommends eating at least three or four egg whites along with one yolk daily.

Salmon

Omega-3 fatty acids in fatty fish such as salmon can strengthen immunity by increasing the activity of phagocytes, which are white blood cells that destroy bacteria. EFA's can also help suppress appetite, prevent fat deposition, increase energy expenditure and reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Nuts

Almonds, pecans, peanuts and walnuts are good sources of monounsaturated fat (MUFAs) that promote fullness and help increase metabolic rate. Research conducted by Dr. David Katz, director of Yale's Prevention Research Center, shows women who switched to a 1,600-calorie, high-MUFA diet shed 1/3 of their belly fat within a month.

Green Vegetables

Vegetables such as spinach and broccoli are low in calories and high in soluble fiber, which acts as a cleanser for the digestive system. Vegetables also supply an abundance of cell-repairing antioxidants that provide vitamins and enzymes needed for energy metabolism that can help slim your middle. Research published in the Journal of Nutrition on March 25, 2009, shows that people who ate higher amounts of antioxidants had smaller waists as well as less visceral and subcutaneous fat.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms can enhance white blood cells and are major defenders against infection, according to Hyla Cass, author of "Supplement Your Prescription." Mushroom varieties such as reishi, maitake and shitake are important sources of beta-glucans, which have been shown to stimulate natural killer-cell function.

Berries

Raspberries, blueberries and strawberries are loaded with antioxidants and fiber. For every gram of fiber consumed, about seven calories can be eliminated, according to research conducted at Germany's University of Kiel, Department of Human Nutrition and Food Science published in The Journal of Nutrition in 1990.