Losing weight is an idea that must have touched your mind at least once in your life. It is true that it is a delicate process that requires as much physical as mental effort to achieve it. But you may be able to lose weight in the long run by changing your diet. Changing your diet does not necessarily mean changing it radically, but rather incorporating certain nutrients that can help you in your weight loss process.
"You have to consume 5 fruits and vegetables a day," a phrase that is heard every day on all national channels. It's not just an advertising slogan, but the basis of a healthy diet. To know that the key to a balanced diet is not necessarily the fruits and vegetables as such, but the nutrients they contain. We are talking mainly about fibers.
Fibers are non-digestible carbohydrates found in foods. There are two types of fibers:
- Soluble fiber: which can be dissolved in water and metabolized by the good bacteria of the intestinal flora.
- Insoluble fibers: which can not be dissolved in water.
They can also be classified as fermentable and non-fermentable fibers, depending on the ability of colonic bacteria to degrade them.
Fibers are important for these bacteria. They need nutrients to feed themselves and fulfill their mission properly. It turns out that proteins and lipids are absorbed by the bloodstream well before reaching the intestinal flora. This leaves little choice for these bacteria for their nutrition, hence the importance of fiber. The rest of the human body does not hold the necessary enzymes to digest them, they are intact in the bacteria of your intestinal flora.
Thus, they can act well as a prebiotic which helps promote the growth of good bacteria, improves your metabolism and protects you against weight gain. They can also protect you against inflammatory bowel disease and help you absorb calcium so you can keep your bone mass in good shape.
A fiber-based diet increases your feeling of fullness. But what does this imply? This feeling of satiety will push you to reduce the amount of food you consume, allowing you to lose weight considerably and over the long term. A little advice would be to drink a glass of lemon water before your meal. Lemon contains an insoluble fiber that is pectin. The latter can delay the process of gastric emptying while maintaining your feeling of satiety.
Fibers also have an important function for your body. They help regulate the level of sugar in your blood, thus protecting you from diabetes, but not only. This avoids the nibbling cravings that you may have between meals, which are the first enemy of your weight loss project.
Moreover, according to Lily Soutter, nutritionist approved by the Association for Nutrition, fiber is a formidable ally to contribute to a healthy and sustainable weight loss. Speaking to the Express.co.uk website, she explains that eating this nutrient, along with a healthy, balanced diet, can help protect you from weight gain. She says: "Fiber-rich foods absorb water and stay in the stomach longer, creating a feeling of fullness ...".
Nevertheless, it should be noted that excessive consumption of fiber can cause undesirable effects such as flatulence, bloating or diarrhea.
A recipe rich in fiber to help you lose weight
Losing weight should never rhyme with deprivation, so here is a recipe to enrich your plate both in colors and benefits.
Vegetarian Burger
It may seem odd to incorporate a burger into your new diet, but take a quick look at the ingredients:
- A cup of chickpea
- Previously prepared hummus
- Half a cup of beans
- A little red onion
- A bouquet of parsley
- Dried coriander
- Salt, pepper and cumin
- Baking soda
- Buckwheat burger bread
- Tomato, gherkin and red onion
Instead of the chopped steak, you will use falafels. After soaking your chickpeas and beans in water overnight, remove their skin. Put them in a blender, add the chopped onion and the parsley then the spices. Mix until you obtain a homogeneous preparation. Add a teaspoon of baking soda and mix a second time. Make pancakes and bake for 8 minutes at 180 °. Open your burger bread, coat it with hummus, place the pancakes, the crudités in slices and the gherkins and close again.
