Mix up your morning meal and try one-or a few-of these 5
healthy breakfast foods that help you lose weight. Healthy Breakfast Recipes to Help
You Lose Weight Eating
a morning meal is a healthy habit if you're watching your weight. Research
shows that regular breakfast eaters tend to be leaner and dieters are more
successful at losing weight—and keeping it off—when they eat breakfast. What's
more, people who do typically get more of some important nutrients, like fiber
and vitamins.
1. Raspberries
A cup
of raspberries delivers a whopping 8 grams of fiber (that's more than double
what's in a cup of strawberries and about the same amount in a cup of some
types of beans). What's so great about all that fiber? Recent research in
the Journal of
Nutrition suggests eating more fiber as a way to prevent
weight gain or even encourage weight loss. Over the course of the two-year
study, the researchers found that boosting fiber by 8 grams for every 1,000
calories resulted in about 4 ½ pounds of weight loss.
2. Oatmeal
Oatmealcan help you lose weight in two ways. First, it's packed with fiber and it
keeps you feeling fuller longer. Second, a recent study in the reported that
eating a breakfast made with "slow-release" carbohydrates—such as
oatmeal or bran cereal—3 hours before you exercise may help you burn more fat.
How? Eating "slow-release" carbohydrates doesn't spike blood sugar as
high as eating refined carbohydrates (think: white toast). In turn, insulin
levels don't spike as high. Because insulin plays a role in signaling your body
to store fat, having lower blood sugar levels may help you burn fat.
3. Yogurt
A recent report, published in the New
England Journal of Medicine, and out of Harvard revealed which
foods are correlated with weight change, including the top 5 foods that promote weight loss. Yogurt was one of them! (See more of the Best Foods for Weight Loss and 5 Foods That
Make You Gain, here.) Another reason to eat yogurt: the protein in it may give you
an extra edge if you're looking to get leaner. When researchers fed two groups
of mice a high-fat diet for 11 weeks, the mice that got water spiked with whey
protein (a type of protein found naturally in yogurt and another dairy) packed on
42 percent less weight and nearly a third less body fat than the mice who just
drank plain water, despite the fact that they ate roughly the same number of
calories. The whey eaters also gained 7 percent more lean body mass (e.g.,
muscle mass). Save calories—and unnecessary sugar—by choosing plain yogurt. If
you need a little extra sweetness, try fresh fruit (maybe raspberries?).
4. Peanut Butter
Nuts
were also among the top 5 foods that Harvard researchers said promote weightloss. I love to slather a tablespoon or two of peanut butter onto whole-wheat
toast (ahem, a "slow-release" carbohydrate), but you could also add
nuts to your oatmeal (another "slow-release" carb).
