Foods not to ditch when you diet
By Rachel Meltzer Warren
Published June 15, 2012
Prevention Magazine
How Your Favorite Foods Can Help You Lose
You want to shed some pounds, and immediately your personal list of no-no's grows.
No bread or potatoes—too many carbs. No chocolate—too fattening.
Sound familiar? Diets don't have to be so strict: In fact, forbidding
certain foods can backfire, said Milton Stokes, a Connecticut-based
dietitian.
"Thanks to fad diets that aren't based in solid science, I often see
clients avoiding foods that would help them control overeating or fight
belly fat and ultimately lose weight," Stokes said. "Worse still, having
an off-limits list is like stuffing your cravings into a plastic bag.
Eventually it's going to burst open, unleashing all your food urges at
once, which leads to bingeing."
The real key to weight loss? "Mind your p's and q's—watch portions
and choose quality, nutrient-rich foods," said Sari Greaves, a national
spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.
Here, how the top foods typically dismissed by dieters can help you happily slim down:
How to Prevent Snacking Too Much
Bread
Slim-Down Effect: Contains carbohydrates, which boost brain chemicals that curb overeating.
Bread is an excellent source of carbs, which your brain needs to
produce serotonin, a neurotransmitter that promotes feelings of comfort
and satisfaction, said Dr. Nina T. Frusztajer, a Boston-based physician,
who specializes in nutrition and is coauthor of The Serotonin Power
Diet.
"As your body digests carbohydrates, it releases insulin, which helps
channel tryptophan—an amino acid—into the brain. Tryptophan then gets
converted to serotonin," she explained.
When serotonin levels are optimal, you feel calm and happy and have
fewer cravings; when they're low, you feel depressed and irritable,
making you more likely to overeat. Breads containing whole grains are
healthiest, and one serving equals one slice of bread, half an English
muffin, or a small roll.
Pasta
Slim-Down Effect: A high fluid content keeps you satisfied longer.
Cooked pasta and rice are about 70 percent water—and eating
fluid-rich foods keeps you fuller longer, compared with dry foods,
according to research from the British Nutrition Foundation. Like bread,
the carbs in pasta boost serotonin to help curb overeating. The proper
portion of pasta is ½ cup cooked, or about the size of an ice-cream
scoop. Choose whole grain varieties for filling fiber, and add grilled
chicken and lots of veggies to bulk up your dish even more.
Potatoes
Slim-Down Effect: Form resistant starch, a fiber that burns fat.
These veggies may be one of our most misunderstood foods. Fried or
doused in sour cream, they're not going to help you lose weight. But
when boiled or baked, a potato's starch absorbs water and swells. Once
chilled, portions of the starch crystallize into a form that resists
digestion—resistant starch. Unlike other types of fiber, resistant
starch gets fermented in the large intestine, creating fatty acids that
may block the body's ability to burn carbohydrates. In their place, you
burn fat. A healthy potato serving is about the size of a fist.
5 Cool New Tricks for Healthy Living
Peanut Butter
Slim-Down Effect: Rich in healthy fats that help banish belly flab.
Studies show that diets high in mono-unsaturated fatty acids
(abundant in peanut butter and nuts) prevent accumulation of fat around
the midsection, boost calorie burn, and promote weight loss. In fact,
women who eat one serving of nuts or peanut butter two or more times a
week gain fewer pounds than women who rarely eat them, according to
recent research from the Harvard School of Public Health. One reason: A
snack that includes peanut butter helps you stay full for up to 2 ½
hours, compared with 30 minutes for a carb-only snack such as a rice
cake, finds research from Purdue University. (Carbohydrates satisfy a
craving, while nuts keep you feeling full.) Peanut butter and nuts are
high in calories, so stick with a 2-tablespoon portion—about the size of
a golf ball.
Cheese
Slim-Down Effect: Great source of calcium, which burns calories and fat.
At about 100 calories and 5 g of fat per ounce, cheese usually tops
the no-no list, but its calcium improves your ability to burn calories
and fat, according to a recent research review. Not getting enough of
this mineral may trigger the release of calcitriol, a hormone that
causes the body to store fat. Scientists at the University of Tennessee
found that people on a reduced-calorie diet who included an extra 300 to
400 mg of calcium a day lost significantly more weight than those who
ate the same number of calories but with less calcium. Scientists aren't
exactly sure why, but eating calcium-rich foods is more effective than
taking calcium supplements—and cheese has about 200 mg per ounce. Just
stick to two ounce portions, and choose light varieties to get health
benefits for half the calories.
Food Traps that Make You Gain
Dark chocolate
Slim-Down Effect: Satisfies a common craving to prevent bingeing.
Up to 97 percent of women experience cravings, and chocolate is the
most common and "intensely" craved food, according to a recent study.
Having an occasional small serving of a favorite treat is better than
depriving yourself, which may lead to a binge, said Greaves. In fact,
people who tried to not think about chocolate ate two-thirds more of it
than people who were told to talk about it freely, according to British
research. Dark varieties are more satisfying than milk chocolate, say
scientists at the University of Copenhagen, but measure your portion,
and be mindful when you eat. Slowly savoring one or two squares of a
high-quality dark chocolate bar will satisfy a craving more than wolfing
down M&M's in front of the TV.
Fruit
Slim-Down Effect: Soothes a sweet tooth naturally for few calories.
Some dieters skip this low-calorie fare when they start watching the
scale, thanks to once-popular diets that eliminated fruit in their most
restrictive phases. But new research published in the journal Obesity
Reviews looked at 16 different studies and found overwhelmingly that
eating fruit is associated with weighing less. In one study from Brazil,
women who added three small apples to their regular meals and snacks
lost 2 pounds in 10 weeks without dieting. Although fruit does contain
the natural sugar fructose, it doesn't raise blood sugar levels like
table sugar does; plus, it's high in water and filling fiber and low in
calories. Aim to have three servings of fresh fruit daily—but skip the
high-calorie juice. Great picks (with average calories per cup): fresh
melon (50), grapes (60), berries (70), and citrus fruits (75).
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