Looking for a weight loss diet that won't drive you round the bend with boring meals? Luckily, Ripe London is about to jump into the realm of tasty foods that aid in weight loss by helping the body burn fat. We'll explore the science behind fat-burning properties and provide a comprehensive list of fruits and vegetables renowned for their ability to promote weight loss. From vitamin C-packed citrus fruits to fibre-rich cruciferous vegetables, we'll cover it all. It's time to learn how incorporating these nutritious options into your diet can contribute to a healthy weight management journey, offering health benefits from improved appetite to better digestion!
A Healthy Diet & Fewer Calories: How Food Can Help Us Lose Weight
Weight loss is all about a balanced diet, not starving yourself. A massive reduction in calorie intake can put the body into 'starvation mode', meaning your metabolism slows. It might seem contradictory, but suddenly eating a diet very low in calories can increase body weight.
The best method for weight management and weight loss is by getting the benefits of a healthy diet and lifestyle. By exercising regularly and eating healthy vegetables and fruits, you will soon see your body weight become more in line with healthy limits!
Some foods can even burn fat or reduce fat storage in the body, the science of which we'll get into. So, let's explore the best fruits and veggies that can help us lose weight.
Best Fruits to Burn Fat
Let's cut to the chase: here's a list of fruits that can help you burn or lose body fat!
Apples
Apples are high in fibre and have very few calories, both of which are incredible for weight loss efforts. A standard apple will have 116 calories and around 5 grams of fibre!
Soluble fibre is great at reducing our appetites. It also helps to improve digestive health and slow down digestion overall, meaning our blood sugar is lowered and we don't absorb carbohydrates as quickly. Apple peels even contain antioxidants, which have some lovely effects on your weight loss journey too.
Apples are also really high in plant compounds called polyphenols, which might be able to reduce abdominal fat accumulation! They've been linked to HDL cholesterol improvements and can reduce inflammation. An apple a day really does keep the doctor away, it turns out.
Grapefruit
Half a grapefruit only has around 37 calories, but has enough vitamin C to meet over half your daily recommendation.
The body burns fat during exercise, and vitamin C can increase the amount of fat that gets burned by as much as 30%. Basically, eating one grapefruit can reduce the amount of exercise you have to do by almost a third!
Grapefruit also has a really low Glycemic Index (GI), meaning it doesn't flood your blood with sugars. This can be really useful for diabetics, but it's currently being researched if a low GI diet can make weight loss or weight management easier.
If you're trying to lose weight, it turns out eating grapefruit might be the best thing you can do!
Stone Fruits
Plums, cherries, apricots, and peaches. Stone fruits have a low GI, they're low in calories and are rich in vitamin C and vitamin A.
They're all popular seasonal fruits, but who knew they'd be able to play such a big role in your weight loss journey?
Vitamin A is great for what's called browning. This is when white body fat is turned brown and used up as the body attempts to maintain a healthy temperature. It's a great way to burn fat and lose weight. And getting your daily dose of vitamin A from stone fruit is a healthy way to go about that.
Stone fruits are pretty nutrient-dense across the board, containing plenty of filling fibre - making them a great snack that will help with weight loss, and won't expand your waistline!
Kiwi
Kiwis are a nutritional powerhouse, packed with vitamin C and vitamin K, as well as plenty of fibre. Plus, a low Glycemic Index. Their natural sugars are released gradually, minimising blood sugar spikes.
In a study involving 41 people with pre-diabetes, eating two kiwis a day for 12 weeks led to increased vitamin C levels, lower blood pressure, and a reduction in waist of up to 1.2 inches!
This demonstrates the potential of kiwis to aid in weight management. Kiwi eaters are able to lose weight pretty easily, so why not join in the fun?
Berries
High in fibre and all the right stuff, berries are low in calories and all the wrong stuff - at least when we're talking about weight loss.
Just 120g of raspberries will give you almost 40% of your daily intake of vitamin C, and 150g of strawberries will give you a whopping 99%! It's even thought that eating berries can reduce inflammation, cholesterol, and blood pressure!
We could go on, but you're probably convinced already. Grab some berries the next time you want a snack - do it enough and you'll be on your way to those weight loss goals soon!
Best Fat Burning Vegetables
Now, let's delve into the vegetable kingdom and explore the top contenders for fat-burning veggies.
Leafy Greens
Leafy greens are a pretty large group of vegetables, including superfoods like kale and spinach.
Spinach, for example, is full of fibre. This is great for keeping you feeling full, meaning you'll feel less inclined to snack. Being low in calories too, leafy greens are full of vitamin C, vitamin K, and vitamin A. While vitamin K has been linked to less belly fat, vitamin C helps to burn fat during exercise, and vitamin A is thought to be effective at browning - eating leafy greens like kale and spinach can literally burn fat away!
Rhubarb
Even though it might be eaten more like a fruit, in desserts and puddings, rhubarb isn't just for those with a sweet tooth.
Rhubarb is really low in calories, with only 11 calories a stalk, but it comes with enough vitamin K to meet almost 15% of your daily recommendation. It's also high in fibre - its own special variation which might be able to reduce LDL cholesterol. Recent studies have even said that rhubarb might be great at reducing fat metabolism.
Basically, if you want to encourage weight loss, you should be eating rhubarb.
Broccoli, Cabbage, and Cauliflower
You might not have heard the name cruciferous vegetable, but you should definitely learn about it!
Broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage are all also pretty high in fibre. But they're also higher in protein than most other vegetables. This protein content means you'll stay fuller for longer, helping cut out those unnecessary calories and after-dinner snacks.
Also being low in calories, cruciferous vegetables are basically perfect weight-loss veggies! Try adding some cooked broccoli or cauliflower rice to your diet, and create a balanced meal with more vegetables to help with weight loss.
Green Beans
Beans and legumes, including green beans (and baked beans!), are amazing for weight loss. This is because of two special reasons.
First of all, beans are full of incredibly filling fibre - which we've already seen to be effective at weight loss through cutting out unnecessary snacking.
But beans also help your gut create a hormone called cholecystokinin (CKK). This natural little beauty actually slows down the time it takes your digestive system to empty. Beans help you feel fuller for longer, as well as help with healthy digestion - so even baked beans can be a valued friend when it comes to weight loss.
Brussels Sprouts
Cooked Brussels sprouts are full of essential nutrients, but are incredibly low in calories!
As well as being low in calories, they're also low in carbohydrates. Along with their high fibre content, this makes Brussels sprouts effective as bulk foods for a weight loss diet! You might turn your nose up at their smell, but you can't deny how attractive they sound to help with weight loss.
The Road to Weight Loss at Work: Ripe London
Weight loss isn't just a matter of cutting out chocolate (though you should probably do that anyway). It's about getting the right kinds of foods onto your plate, and the right kinds of nutrients into your body.
We spend so much time at work these days, so making sure our lunch or mid-afternoon snack is supporting our weight loss goals is just as important as the meals you eat at home. That's where Ripe London comes in!
A London-wide delivery service of fat-burning fruits and vegetables means you can get through the workday without being tempted by the vending machines or a cheeky fast food delivery. Order one of our office fruit boxes today, and start losing weight - even just sat at your desk!
