Weight Loss 101: Choose Your Vegetable and Fruit Carefully

The general advice to eat more fruit may be inadequate and may not auger well for your health, a new study claims while suggesting that certain fruits and vegetables are better than the rest.

According to Live Science, eating fruits like berries, apples and pears with non-starchy vegetables can help lose weight but eating potato, peas, corn and other starch-loaded vegetables promotes weight gain. For the study, researchers used diet information from more than 130,000 US adults part of several long-duration studies.

"Unfortunately, most Americans have inadequate fruit and vegetable intake, but when they do eat these foods, they may be consuming too much fruit juice and potatoes, Therefore nutritional guidelines ought to emphasize individual or subgroups of specific fruits and vegetables that maximize the potential for weight maintenance and disease prevention," the researchers reportedly said.

The study found that though increased consumption of fruit and vegetable contributed to weight loss, some fruits and vegetables are more beneficial. Berries, apples and peers were associated with a 0.4 kg weight loss every week while cauliflower and soy-products like tofu were linked with 0.9 kg of weight loss. In comparison, corn and peas were associated with a weight gain of 0.9 kg and 0.4 kg respectively.

One explanation is that starch causes greater increase in blood sugar levels which over a period of time contributes to weight gain. Fruits and vegetables with high fiber content can satisfy hunger quickly and lower the intake.