Top 15 Vegetables That Will Help You Lose Weight

by Dr. Ahmed Zayed
Published on April 13, 2024
assorted vegetables on wooden crate

Cracking the code to dropping those extra pounds isn’t just about hitting the gym hard for hours. Nope, it’s all about feeding your body and soul the right stuff. Ever wonder why pumping iron for 3 hours straight doesn’t always cut it? It’s likely ’cause your body’s not getting the love it needs from the inside.

Weight loss is all about balancing between the required nutrients, introducing them accordingly in your everyday diet, and a needed calorie deficit. This means that you should intake fewer calories than you burn throughout the day. However, there is a trick – you should always choose your calorie sources wisely.

What will follow are some great low-calorie sources for you to try out, all of which are in the form of fresh vegetables that are delicious, highly nutritional, and most importantly weight loss friendly. Are you interested in which vegetables we have to talk to you about?

The 15 vegetables that will shred those extra extra pounds

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are very delicious, yet low-calorie vegetables that nobody should miss out on incorporating in their meals. From rice, chicken, fish, omelets, and pasta, mushrooms are easy to blend in with any other ingredients so that you can prepare highly nutritional, filling meals to satisfy your hunger.

In addition, mushrooms are suggested to help regulate the blood sugar levels, and with that, to make the weight loss process easier for anyone (1). We highly recommend looking into the many recipes that will make it easy for you to include more mushrooms to your meals (2, 3).

Carrots

Carrots are one of the best low-calorie vegetables that you can find. The fact that they contain high amounts of both soluble and insoluble fiber, which will assure you that carrots will satisfy your hunger for a long period of time also helps (4). You can use carrots as your healthy snack along with some delicious homemade hummus, or you can blend them perfectly in your smoothies, salads, stews, and all of your meals (5, 6).

Onions

If you can get past the characteristic smell of onions, you will allow yourself to enjoy not only in their great taste but also in their high nutritional value. Onions contain a very important flavonoid – quercetin, a compound which is responsible for regulating our blood sugar levels by boosting our blood flow, but also, making sure that there is no fat being stored as well as, burning the fat that has been stored in the past, especially around the belly area in women (7). Add more onions to your salads and meals to improve their taste but also, allow yourself to gain the nutrients that onions have to offer you (8).

Potatoes

Potatoes are important for maintaining our good health, but for weight loss as well. You see, potatoes are rich in potassium – a mineral that we so commonly fail to intake on a daily level as much as we should unfortunately because it plays a great role in regulating our blood pressure levels.

White, boiled potatoes are considered to be the most fulfilling foods out there which means that they will keep you fed and satisfied for a long period of time (9). However, when you try to incorporate more potatoes in your diet, make sure that you prepare them either boiled or baked. Fries will surely not help your weight loss process (10)!

Bell peppers

Did you know that bell peppers are listed among the greatest weight loss vegetables, but also among the greatest Vitamin C sources out there? That is because bell peppers indeed do contain high amounts of Vitamin C as well as a compound known as dihydrocapsiate.

Dihydrocapsiate may help your weight loss experience by boosting your metabolism so that it burns more calories than ever (11). All that you have to do is shop for some fresh bell peppers and browse through some of the most popular bell peppers recipes (12, 13).

Cucumbers

Considering the great amounts of water and the absence of any fats and carbs within cucumbers that makes them one of the best vegetables to include in your low-calorie diet. Cucumbers will help you reduce the number of calories that you normally intake on a daily level, plus it will detoxify your body quite efficiently (14). You can add a few slices of cucumber in your water, add them to your smoothies, and salads, or you can use them as a snack along with some carrots and hummus (15).

Leafy greens

The leafy greens group includes our favorite kale, spinach, cabbage, lettuce, Swiss chard, arugula, and many others. All of them contain very few calories, and yet far too many nutrients which makes them perfect for our weight loss journey (16). The possibilities of including all of these vegetables in our diet are endless. Starting from omelets, salads, smoothies, juices, too much more, you should never miss out on using some type of leafy green in each and every one of your meals (17).

Cauliflower

If you are tired of feeling bloated all of the time, it is time to refer to the delicious cauliflower for help! Cauliflowers contain a variety of phytochemicals that will enhance the fat burning process in your body. Plus, cauliflowers are a great source of folate and Vitamin C, vitamins that you should not miss out on (18). If you are worried that you do not know enough ways on how to incorporate more cauliflowers in your diet, look into some of the great recipes available online (19). From salads to smoothies, and even snacks, cauliflowers will follow your meal plan everywhere.

Celery

Celery is yet another delicious low-calorie vegetable. One stack of celery contains only around ten calories! And talking about its fiber content – well, we can say that it is through the roof, which makes celery an important weight loss vegetable that deserves its place on our list today.

Celery will help reduce your hunger so that you can burn more calories than you intake on a daily level and with that burn those last couple of pounds away (20)! Have you ever tried adding celery to your salads, crème soups, and stews? We bet that you will be heading to do just that as you finish reading today’s article (21).

Beans

Beans should definitely find their place on your weekly meal plan more often if you are interested in getting rid of your belly fat and extra extra pounds. They are one of the greatest protein sources for vegans, and you probably know that proteins will help you to efficiently lose weight, keeping your hunger low throughout the day (22). There are millions of ways that you can use to introduce more beans in your diet – from adding them to your salads, wraps, to your stews (23).

Chili peppers

If you are in for something spicy, you should definitely try some chili peppers. Thanks to the high levels of capsaicin that the chili peppers contain, your metabolism will boost, and you will burn more calories than ever. In addition, your appetite will reduce, and you will be able to watch over your calorie intake better (24). Just add some fresh chili peppers to your salads, omelets, and meals to improve their taste and feel as the calories are burning (25).

Pumpkin

In order to achieve your weight loss goals a lot quicker, make sure that you include more pumpkin in your diet. Low in calories and very high in fiber, you should definitely use what pumpkins have to offer you in terms of health, weight loss, and well, there is no doubt – a great taste (26)! Eat it baked as a snack, add it fresh to your salads, or add it in the form of a pumpkin powder to your smoothies and juices – the options are endless (27).

Asparagus

You might not have the habit of consuming asparagus as much as you do when it comes to the previously mentioned veggies, but you cannot deny the high nutritional value as well as the value that asparagus has when it comes to your weight loss process.

Thanks to a chemical known as asparagine, found in asparagus, it creates an opportunity for more calories to be burned on a daily basis, by acting directly upon the cells that are responsible for breaking down fats (28). If you are worried about how to use it in your kitchen, remember that you can always roast it along with some potatoes and rice, or you can eat it fresh as a part of your salads (29).

Broccoli

Broccoli, similar to the cauliflower, also contains high amounts of phytochemicals responsible for enhancing fat loss in your body. That, plus its pretty impressive nutritional value due to the high levels of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and potassium, among many others, makes broccoli an unreplaceable veggie from your salads and meals in general (30). Look through some of the best broccoli recipes found online to assure that you have enough ideas about how to include more broccoli in your weight loss journey (31).

Lentils

According to scientific research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, all that we need is a single serving of lentils on a daily basis to make weight loss come true (32)! It is thanks to their high protein content that makes lentils the perfect part of every weight loss path. Lentils will help reduce your hunger and still keep you fed and satisfied throughout the day. This makes them fit perfectly in your daily meal plan, as a part of your salads, soups, and main meals (33).

Conclusion

Creating your meals around the previously mentioned veggies has never been easier, not when we have so many great recipes to lean on to. With the high protein veggies such as beans, and the high fiber veggies such as carrots, potatoes, bells peppers, and many others, we have quite a lot to work with.

These delicious and healthy vegetables will help you to conquer your hunger, keep away from any unhealthy snacks and meals in between, and offer you a great taste to enjoy it.

Start off your weight loss journey right by including all of these vegetables a lot more often then you have had until now, and the results will come on their own.

References

(1) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24056209
(2) http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/21881/low-calorie/side-dishes/vegetable/mushroom/
(3) https://www.bonappetit.com/gallery/19-healthy-mushroom-recipes
(4) https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/carrots
(5) https://www.eatthis.com/carrot-recipes/
(6) https://www.besthealthmag.ca/best-eats/cooking/our-best-healthy-carrot-recipes/
(7) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5613708/
(8) https://www.cookinglight.com/food/in-season/cooking-with-onions
(9) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7498104
(10) https://www.lovepotatoes.co.uk/recipe-categories/under-400-calories/
(11) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2954444/
(12) http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/21678/ingredients/vegetables/peppers/bell-green-red-yellow/
(13) https://happyhealthymama.com/recipes-with-bell-peppers-introducing-the-in-season-now-series.html
(14) https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/7-health-benefits-of-cucumber
(15) https://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/healthy-eating/nutrition/healthy-cucumber-recipes/
(16) https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/leafy-green-vegetables#section10
(17) https://www.eastewart.com/nutrition-tips/leafy-greens-recipes/
(18) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3793502/
(19) https://www.mydomaine.com/healthy-cauliflower-recipes
(20) https://askdrnandi.com/10-health-benefits-celery/
(21) http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/19297/ingredients/vegetables/celery/
(22) https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320192.php
(23) https://www.cheatsheet.com/culture/cook-to-get-cut-healthy-bean-recipes-that-taste-great.html/
(24) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13129472
(25) https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-recipes/
(26) https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/pumpkin
(27) https://thegirlonbloor.com/15-healthy-pumpkin-recipes-perfect-for-fall/
(28) https://www.aminoacid-studies.com/areas-of-use/fat-burning.html
(29) https://www.eatingbirdfood.com/healthy-asparagus-recipes/
(30) https://www.livescience.com/45408-broccoli-nutrition.html
(31) http://dish.allrecipes.com/delicious-healthy-broccoli-sides/
(32) https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/103/5/1213/4569588
(33) https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/healthy-lentil-recipes/

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