you can’t go wrong with vegetables. They’re nutrient-dense and versatile, so you’ll never run out of healthy ways to prepare them. And if you’re trying to achieve a weightloss goal or lose belly fat, there are specific vegetables that can help you!
To learn more about these specific vegetables and the nutrients they contain that can help you with your goal of losing belly fat, we spoke with Courtney D’Angelo, MS, RD, author at what a wellnessas well as Trista Best, MPH, RD, LD of Balance One Supplements. These are the vegetables they recommend, and for more healthy eating tips, check out The 3 best foods to reduce the risk of heart disease.
pass the Spinach, please! This leafy green is packed with nutrients and is great in a salad, sautéed, or added to your protein shake. According to both dietitians, adding more spinach to your diet can help lose belly fat.
“Green leafy vegetables are not only super nutritious, they also help you reduce belly fat,” says D’Angelo. “Spinach It is high in fiber, which absorbs more nutrients and aids digestion. It’s also high in vitamin K, which can sometimes help reduce body weight, including visceral fat.”
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Red bell peppers are a versatile vegetable with a natural sweetness that goes great in a stir fry or on top of your burrito bowl. they are also full of nutrients that can help you with your weight goals.
“Peppers they’re great vegetables to add to a weight-loss diet,” says Best. “They’re low in calories and high in nutrients, while also helping to create a feeling of fullness after meals. This combination can help prevent overeating for the rest of the day. Their fiber and capsaicin content also give red bell peppers their weight-loss benefits.”
Broccoli It’s one of the most nutrient-dense vegetables you can find, which is why our two dieticians rely on this green veggie as food to help manage their weight.
“This cruciferous vegetable it’s rich in antioxidants that help reduce inflammation in the body,” says Best. “The main compound is sulforaphane, which works by reducing cytokines and NF-kB in the body. These substances drive the inflammatory process. By reducing inflammation, the body is better able to shed weight and work efficiently in all other areas as well.”
“Broccoli it also contains several other nutrients that can promote belly fat loss, including vitamin C, calcium and chromium,” says D’Angelo. “Vitamin C is needed by the body to metabolize fats into energy. This vegetable is also a high-carbohydrate food, which has many benefits when it comes to weight loss, such as helping you feel full, providing energy, preventing weight gain, aiding in digestion, and even helping to shrink your waistline.”
Finally, carrots they are a delicious tuber that contains more nutrients than many people realize. Not only that, but chewing on raw carrots can also surprisingly help you with your goals!
“This vegetable is unique in its ability to help reduce belly fat in that it increases the body’s metabolism,” says Best. “The thermogenic effect of food (TEF) is the rate of calories a food causes the body to burn while digesting it. Because carrots they have a hard texture, they have a high TEF and therefore cause the body to burn more calories just by eating them.”
