The important thing to remember when choosing foods to eat when losing weight is that a study of 141 34- to 59-year-old women by Harvard Medical School concluded that "there was virtually no correlation between calorie intake and body weight." Furthermore, "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease" explained that the kind of food people eat is more important than the quantity or total calories. "Eating fat makes you fat (and also gives you heart disease)," Ornish wrote.
Best Proteins
Numerous doctors, nutritionists and governmental agencies recommend eating less protein. According to Ornish, Americans eat at least twice as much protein as they need and many of them get a large share of their protein from meat which has excessive saturated fat. Fortunately, there are a lot of foods that provide adequate protein and are ideal for people who want to lose weight because they don't have much saturated fat. Ornish's recommendations include tacos with beans, tofu with rice, pasta with beans, oatmeal with milk or yogurt, any cereal with milk or yogurt, meatless chili and pancakes made with nonfat milk.
Best Carbohydrates
Americans should also eat more carbohydrates, particularly complex carbohydrates. Ornish says this is because complex carbohydrates, which include beans, fruits, grains and vegetables, "are hard for your body to convert into fat" and are also more filling. "The New Pritikin Program" emphasizes that "a diet high in unrefined carbohydrates can enhance weight loss." Thus, tomatoes, pineapples, grapes and other fruits in their unrefined form are preferable for weight loss than juices and other refined versions of those fruits.
Best Fruits and Veggies
Fruits and vegetables are always good foods for losing weight because they have no cholesterol and very little saturated fat. Some, though, have more nutrients. "Nutripoints: A New Guide To Simple Healthy Eating" compiles lists that give foods points for their good nutrients and subtract points based on negative factors like too much fat. The most important of the 16 nutrients include vitamin C, niacin, calcium, iron, folic acid and magnesium.
The list's top 10 vegetables are turnip greens, spinach, bok choy, spinach salad, mustard greens, beet greens, parsley, broccoli, watercress and tossed salad. The top 10 fruits are cantaloupe, guava, papaya, strawberries, currants, mango, kiwi, litchi, mandarin oranges and honeydew melon.
Best Meats
Foods in the meat/fish/poultry group have much lower Nutripoint scores than fruits and vegetables. Those that are the best for losing weight because they are low in fat and cholesterol include baked venison, canned clams, tuna fish in water, baked pike, steamed or poached salmon, baked halibut, baked red snapper, baked bass, broiled oysters and baked swordfish.
Best Grains and Legumes
Cereals and legumes are also great foods to eat when losing weight because they have so little fat and are filling because they have a lot fiber. Cereals with lots of nutrients dominate the best grains list in "Nutripoints." The top cereals include corn flakes, oatmeal, raisin bran, bran and wheat bran. Legumes with lots of healthy nutrients include bean sprouts, frozen peas, navy beans, green peas, lima beans, kidney beans, lentils and soybeans.
References
- "Nutripoints: A New Guide To Simple, Healthy Eating;" Dr. Roy E. Vartabedian and Kathy Matthews
- "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program For Reversing Heart Disease;" Dr. Dean Ornish; 1996
- "The Well Adult;" Dr. Mike Samuels and Nancy Samuels; 1988
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