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If you are hoping to lose weight, taking a closer look at your diet and exercise routines is a good place to start. Specifically, making sure the ingredients that you cook with do more harm than good is crucial.
With that in mind, eliminating refined grains from your diet is a good way to avoid empty calories and food lacking essential nutrients.
Refined Grains
If you are hoping to lose weight, avoiding refined white grains is an important step.
Healthline explains why: "These are grains that have had the fibrous and nutritious parts removed. The biggest source is white flour made from refined wheat."
Because they have been stripped of these nutrients, refined grains are considered "empty" calories.
Likewise, staying away from these grains is a good way to make sure that the calories you are eating have not been stripped of the nutrients your body needs.
Unfortunately, refined grains are very common--and show up in many recipes. From white rice to pasta, these grains are pretty much everywhere.
With that in mind, next time you are cooking, it's a good idea to keep an eye out for refined grains and replacing them with whole grains instead.