Foods for healthy weight loss

OATMEAL

Oatmeal is a naturally low-fat, high-fiber food and an excellent choice for your daily breakfast. Unlike oatmeal, other foods change as often as health trends change. This whole-grain powerhouse has been packing serious nutrition and hearty flavor into breakfast for generations. It’s one of the few comfort foods that are as good for you as they are just plain good.
To get the most out of this super food, be a bit particular by adding fresh fruit that provide both flavor and a health boost, especially if you choose a banana. This provides additional nutrients and a number of essential vitamins and minerals. Bananas also contain abundant soluble fiber, as does oatmeal. The combination of these two foods regularly can be a simple and easy way to increase the health benefits of your breakfast and loose weight around your belly area.

NUTS

A nut is a fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, which is generally edible. Many nuts are good sources of vitamin E, vitamin B2, folate, fiber, and the essential minerals magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, and selenium. Nuts are most healthy in their raw unroasted form.
Nuts may be high in fat, but it's the good kind. And they are also rich in nutrients, protein, and fiber, which can help stabilize blood sugar. You might get a few extra grams of fat from munching on a handful of nuts, but it's worth it if it helps you avoid reaching for cookies or other sweets. Even peanut butter can be wonderful. Researchers have discovered that people who ate a handful of nuts a day were slimmer and even lived longer. Examples of nuts are walnut, almond, groundnut, peanut, pecan, ogbono, coconut, melon seed, cashew nut, etc.

LEGUMES

Lentils, beans, cowpeas, moringa, soybean are basic examples of legumes and are helpful in loosing weight and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Also, Legumes are an excellent source of resistant starch which is broken down by bacteria in the large intestine to produce short-chain fatty acids used by intestinal cells for food energy.

VEGETABLES

Vegetables can be eaten either raw or cooked and play an important role in human nutrition, being mostly low in fat and carbohydrates, but high in vitamins, minerals and fiber. Many governments encourage their citizens to consume plenty of fruit and vegetables, five or more portions a day often being recommended.
A vegetable is any part of a plant that is consumed by humans as food as part of a savory meal.
Examples of vegetables include; cabbage, lettuce, tomato, sweet potato, yam, peas, spinach, onion, garlic, pepper, etc.

CITRUS FRUITS

Citrus fruits include oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruits, in addition to tangerines and pomelos. Not only are the citrus fruits in this diverse group delicious and refreshing, they earn their definition of an all-star food because they contain compounds called flavonoids, which may have anti cancer properties.

Citrus fruits are also high in vitamin C, and are good sources of folate and thiamin. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and protects the body from damaging free radicals. It is also required for the synthesis of collagen, which helps wounds heal and helps hold blood vessels, tendons, ligaments and bone together. Folate is necessary for cell division and DNA synthesis. Thiamin is a B vitamin important in metabolism.

The vitamin C in citrus fruit strongly enhances the absorption of iron in food. Vitamin C binds to iron in the digestive tract and the iron-vitamin C complex is absorbed together.

Source: diary council of California
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