different types of fruits displayed for sale in a basket
Eating more fruit and veg is essential both for good health and to help us lose weight. Most fruits and vegetables are low in calories and fat, and high in fibre – three essential ingredients for successful weight loss. Most also contain plenty of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, all of which are important for helping us to look and feel our best and to protect us from disease. Research also shows we tend to eat the same volume or weight of food every day, regardless of its calorie content. So if we want to lose weight, it’s crucial to stick to lower calorie foods to make up this volume. And that’s where fruit and vegetables play an important part in a weight loss diet. Many fruits and vegetables actually weigh a lot, adding bulk to our diet, but they don't provide that many calories. For example, a meal consisting of a 150g grilled chicken breast, a 300g jacket potato, 20g of butter and 30g low fat cheese provides a total weight of 500g and provides 790 calories. Swap that meal for a 130g chicken breast, a 200g potato, 5g of butter, 80g broccoli, 45g carrots and 40g green salad, and you still have an overall weight of 500g, but for just 480 calories. Bottom line: you will feel just as full as you’ve eaten exactly the same amount of food, but you’ve saved 310 calories – and in a week, that’s enough to help you lose 1/2lb without even changing the quantity of food you’ve eaten! But what about foods like bananas, avocados, sweetcorn, carrots and peas? These foods are certainly higher in calories than most other fruit and veg. For example, you could eat two small apples for around the same amount of calories as a banana. Similarly, you could eat six times more spinach to provide you with the same amount of calories provided by sweetcorn. Meanwhile, avocados are higher in fat than most other vegetables, but most of this fat is heart-healthy monounsaturates, which comes in a package with plenty of vitamin E.
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