Achieving sustainable weight loss takes a more nuanced approach to your diet than “calories in, calories out.” The reality is that you need to eat the right foods (fresh produce, legumes, nuts and seeds, and intact whole grains), avoid the weight gain-promoting substances (salt, oil, sweeteners), and address food addiction to achieve excellent health and optimal weight.
Related: How Do Unhealthy Foods Trigger Addiction and Weight Gain?
I designed my Nutritarian diet to include a wide portfolio of protective plant foods, which supply a full spectrum of phytonutrients. This eating style is hormonally favorable, offers the full portfolio of anticancer superfoods, and maximizes the number of micronutrients per calorie.
Let’s take a look at some of the healthful plant foods that make up the Nutritarian diet and how they promote weight loss.
Related: 4-Step Quick Start to the Nutritarian Diet
Leafy Greens and Non-Starchy Vegetables
High in nutrients, low in calories–these foods take up room in the stomach, leading to a feeling of satiety. They are also rich in fiber, phytochemicals, and micronutrients, and very low in calories.
Put it into action:
Eat three or more of these every day: Cruciferous vegetables such as kale, broccoli, cabbage, collards, and watercress; salad greens, such as lettuce, arugula, and spinach; alliums such as onions, garlic, and scallions; bell peppers, eggplant, asparagus, zucchini, etc.
Start Your Meal with a Salad
When it comes to salad, the bigger the better. Studies have found that eating a salad at the start of a meal reduces calorie intake from the meal by blunting your appetite and improving the satiety value of meals. Women who started their lunch with a salad consumed fewer calories from the rest of the meal. The larger the salad, the fewer calories they consumed at lunch.1,2
Put it into action:
To your lettuce, add some tomatoes, sliced red onion, shredded carrots, and some raw cruciferous vegetables like arugula, radishes, or cabbage. Your choice of dressing is important. Including fat in your salad makes the salad more filling and helps your body absorb carotenoids from the raw vegetables. But whole-food fat sources–nuts, seeds, and avocado – are superior to oils. Keep reading to learn how nuts and seeds promote a healthy weight.
