Incorporating more vegetables into your diet is an excellent way to see weight loss results.
Not only are veggies rich in fibre – which slows down digestion and has a satiating effect – but they are also low in calorie density. Low-calorie-dense foods contain more volume for fewer calories.
But according to one expert, making one key mistake when cooking vegetables could derail your weight loss efforts.
Nutritionist Emmie Keefe (also known as @HealthyEmmie) took to YouTube to share a weight loss insight, revealing the “cooking mistake that causes weight gain”. She advised slimmers to limit their use of oil and butter.
Cooking your vegetables in butter or oil could add hundreds of extra calories
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Holding up two bowls of the same vegetables, she explained that one portion may contain more calories than the other because of what it’s cooked in.
Signalling to the two bowls in turn, the expert said: “You’ll lose weight eating these veggies but you might gain weight eating these veggies.”
Explaining that one of the bowls amounts to 100 calories and the other, 500 calories, she shared that the difference is in “how they are prepared”.
Emmie said: “One was prepared with balsamic vinegar, while the other was prepared with oil and butter.
“Now, I was being a little dramatic earlier. Eating a bowl of vegetables made with butter and oil won’t make you instantly gain weight.
“But here’s the point: eating more vegetables is a fantastic strategy. But if you’re using a tonne of oil and butter to cook those veggies, you might be intentionally eating way more calories than you realise – which, in turn, could make you gain weight.”
For weight-loss-friendly veggies, the nutritionist advised steaming them, roasting them with balsamic vinegar or vegetable broth, popping them in an air fryer or simply enjoying them raw.
The nutritionist advised roasting vegetables with balsamic vinegar or vegetable broth
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For those who enjoy cooking their veggies in butter or oil too much to cut it out completely, the expert advised being “mindful” of it – because “even a small splash can pack in 200 to 300 calories”.
Slimmers looking to up their vegetable intake might want to stock up on the “best” veg to add to their diet, filled with vitamins, minerals and fibre.
The nutritionist also named the ultimate food for weight loss and it’s a carbohydrate, going as far as to describe it as “the best food on the planet”.
In other weight loss news, a doctor revealed how men can lose belly fat and burn more calories with four tricks.