09/30/2015 10:27 am ET

The Best Fruits And Vegetables For Weight Loss

An apple a day indeed!

Eating fruits and vegetables of all kinds is good for you, but some are better than others when it comes to losing weight. 

Produce with a lot of fiber and a low glycemic index could help a person achieve and maintain and healthy weight, according to a new study published in the journal PLOS Medicine. Over a 24-year period, scientist recorded the diets of more than 117,000 men and women in their 30s and 40s. They confirmed something we certainly already knew: Fruits and vegetables are healthy. And they noticed something else as they examined the group in 4-year intervals: Participants who increased their daily intake of fruits and vegetables gained less weight than those who did not. 

But a closer look at the data revealed that not all fruits and veggies were alike for maintaining a healthy weight.


Adding a daily serving of tofu and soy foods like edamame, for example, resulted in gaining 2.47 fewer pounds. Foods like berries, citrus, apples, pears and peppers also made noteworthy positive differences in people's weight. Starchy vegetables like corn, peas and potatoes, on the other hand, were not effective in minimizing weight gain. 

The takeaway here is not to quit your weekly baked potato or your favorite spring pea salad. Considering fewer than 15 percent of American adults meet the daily intake guidelines, it'd be wise to keep them on your plate. Plus, potatoes provide a hearty dose of potassium and fiber and peas are packed with vitamin K and other crucial nutrients.

Instead, include more of the good stuff on your plate. Add some berries into that pea salad or eat some peppers alongside your potato. The added fiber will keep you fuller for longer and could possibly stave off your craving for dessert.

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