Losing weight is no easy feat, especially when you don’t know where to start. Dieters know that weight loss requires eating more fruits and vegetables, but most fail to realize that the ones they’ve chosen are actually bad for their waistlines. In fact, there’s one vegetable that health and fitness experts say you should steer clear of if you’re trying to lose a few pounds: It’s corn!
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Corn makes for an excellent side dish and addition to almost any dinner recipe, but it looks like the starchy vegetable shouldn’t be on your dinner plate if you’re trying to lose weight. “[Starchy vegetables] are best eaten earlier in the day as they’re higher in carbohydrates,” Houston-based nutritionist Roger Adams, PhD, tells Health.com.
So, what else is considered a starchy vegetable? In addition to corn, Adams says that you should avoid eating peas, potatoes, pumpkin, squash, and yams at dinnertime. Though they contain nutrients and minerals that can help with weight loss, health experts don’t always recommend them because they’re lacking in fiber and have more calories than other vegetables.
When preparing your weight loss dinners, opt for non-starchy, leafy greens and cruciferous veggies. Researchers from Harvard University found that eating these types of vegetables resulted in significantly more weight loss than potatoes, peas, and corn. "They’re some of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet—packed with vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals that help protect the cells and build the immune system, all for a skinny little calorie level,” says Sharon Palmer, RD, a southern California-based registered dietitian
Weight loss is all about making healthy choices, so make sure that you’re including nutritious greens like spinach, kale, romaine, collards, turnip and mustard greens, and broccolini into your diet to reap all of their health benefits!