Nutritious Foods for Weight Loss

If you're looking for a way to jumpstart your weight loss program, create a diet full of nutritious foods that help you lose weight. These foods can curb your appetite and accelerate your metabolism, and bring you one step nearer to your weight loss goals.

Legumes

Legumes, including chickpeas, kidney beans and black beans are low-GI foods that really help regulate blood sugar and appetite. Black beans are particularly rich in fibre and nutrients, plus they're almost fat-free. Legumes can help weight loss as they fill you up on fewer kilojoules and points values than many meat causes of protein.

Oats

Not only packed with fibre, oats are filled with protein, good fats and vitamins and minerals. They've been known to help relieve the harmful effects of "bad" cholesterol and reduce blood pressure. Buy natural rolled oats (leave the sugar-loaded sachets in stock) and cook them within the microwave with skim milk, topped with banana and a drizzle of honey for a super nutritious weight loss breakfast.

Cucumbers

Although cucumbers just offer modest nutritional benefits (a bit of vitamin C, A, and some fibre), this delicately flavoured member of the gourd family goes a long distance in bulking up a salad, and causing you to feel nice and full for few calories. Or if you are in the mood for a crunchy snack, slice them track of the skin on, instead of grabbing potato chips or crackers.

Oranges

Including know for their vitamin C, oranges also contain many phytochemicals considered to lower the risk of breast cancer, heart disease, and inflammatory conditions in women. Oranges also contain potassium, good for water balance between cells and assisting with high blood pressure.

Raw nuts

Each nut contains its very own unique profile of phytochemicals, types of fatty acids, and levels of fibre. Most nuts contain monounsaturated fat, which might help lower "bad" cholesterol. Remember to watch your portions as it is easy to eat too many.

Spinach

Popeye wasn't right concerning the iron content of spinach, as the type of iron in spinach is not as absorbable as animal sources. However, he was getting a great daily dose of B vitamin folate. Spinach is one of nature's best causes of folate, which helps prevent birth defects and could lower the risk of heart disease, dementia and even colon cancer.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are very well known for their high amounts of lycopene, which is considered a potential agent for protection against some types of cancer. But this tasty fruit also packs other anti-oxidants, too, including betacarotene, vitamin E, and vitamin C. Tomatoes are really one of nature's superfoods!

Yoghurt

Our digestive system needs a healthy amount of "good" bacteria within the digestive tract. One way we can assist good bacteria is as simple as boosting probiotic intake. Look for low-fat yoghurt with active cultures such as acidophilus, but keep an eye around the sugar content. Yoghurt is also rich in protein, which makes it a filling snack.