10 foods that can help you lose weight

Delicious foods that help you diet? It sounds too good to be true. No doubt: Weight loss comes down to simple math. You have to eat fewer calories than you burn.

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“Certain foods can help you shed body weight,” says Heather Mangieri, RD, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, “because they help you feel full longer and help curb cravings.”

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Of all the things people do to be healthier, losing weight is probably number one. Not only do we benefit our health by knocking off excess weight, most people think it makes for a better physical appearance. Those are two reasons that the diet industry rakes in billions of dollars year after year. They capitalize on the fact that it’s human nature for us to look for the “miracle diet” or “magic pill,” but so far, those things don’t seem to exist. Diet and exercise is the tried and true way to lose weight, and these foods may help dieters speed up the process as bit.

1. CHOCOLATE

Before you get too excited, it’s important to know that this applies to dark chocolate only. Not surprisingly, dark chocolate lacks that candy-sweet taste of milk chocolate, but the benefits of eating dark chocolate may help make up for that. It offers two benefits for those who are looking to lose weight, including an association between dark chocolate consumption and lower concentrations of belly fat. Some researchers also think that it can help boost metabolism, which is always a great benefit to dieters.

2. EGGS

Even though eggs were vilified for years as contributors to high cholesterol, more recent evidence suggests that eggs are not a health hazard at all. Research studies have found that people who eat an egg for breakfast lose twice as much weight as those who choose other carb-heavy foods such as cereal or toast.

3. BEANS

The real “magic” of beans is that they are packed with protein, and protein tends to stay with you longer. If you are not feeling hungry, you are less likely to head for the snack cabinet or vending machine.

4. PRUNES

The humble prune may not spring to mind immediately when you think of your favorite foods, but since it is loaded with fiber, which can help you lose weight, you might want to consider grabbing some the next time you go shopping. A study carried out in the United Kingdom concluded that people who ate a handful of prunes each day lost weight faster.

5. OATS

Many of us learned as kids that what our mothers told us about oatmeal was true: It does indeed “stick to your ribs.” Since oats can help you feel full for a long period, you are less likely to succumb to cravings. Oats also have lots of fiber, which helps reduce cholesterol, and since they digest slowly, they aren’t as likely to increase blood sugar.

6. NUTS

Nuts make a great between-meal snack when that hunger starts to creep on on you in the afternoon or evening. Nuts are great because they are high in protein, which may also help boost sagging energy levels. Research has shown that when people snack on nuts, they tend to eat less later on. Nuts are a snack that should be eaten in moderation, since they do have fat in them, which can sabotage dieting if you eat too many.

7. APPLES

In this case we’re talking about the whole, crunchy, picked-from-the-tree fruit, and not apple juice or apple sauce. Chewing an apple signals the hunger circuits in the brain that you are eating some substantial, which can help keep cravings at bay later. Apples are also rich in fiber which is always a plus for dieters.

8. AVOCADO

Picking up an avocado my not be something you usually do at the supermarket, but it might be time to add it to your shopping list and give it a try. Including a half an avocado with your lunch may help keep hunger and cravings away later on. It turns out that avocado is also loaded with fiber, healthy fats and potassium.

9. PEANUT BUTTER

This may come as a surprise, but medical research has found that adding peanut butter to your breakfast can help diminish cravings for up to 12 hours. That’s because it contains high levels of a hormone peptide identified as “YY.” A strange name for sure, but the important thing is that it helps you feel full after you are done eating. Peanut butter is another one you don’t want to overdo, so keep it under two tablespoons of peanut better for best results.

10. HUMMUS

The popularity of hummus has been on the rise in recent years with small, local manufacturers and big food producers both jumping on the bandwagon to provide a multitude of choice for consumers. What’s great about hummus is that it has fiber and protein, which probably influenced the outcome of a study that determined that people who ate hummus had waistlines that were 8 percent smaller than those who did not.

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