REVEALED: These 17 cheap and easy foods will help you LOSE weight

THE top foods to lose weight have been revealed – and they are actually easy to find AND taste good.

 

A researcher has listed 17 easy and tasty foods that might stop weight gain

 

Tea drinkers can rejoice as a daily brew will help maintain a healthy weight.

Other tasty treats have been revealed as being high in flavonoids – a key compound could help prevent weight gain. 

Flavonoids are plant compounds found in various foods and drinks, including a wide range of fruit and vegetables, tea, chocolate and even wine.

They have long been celebrated for their antioxidant effect which is thought to help prevent cell damage, but new recent research has found fruit and vegetables with a high level of this compound could help us maintain a healthy weight and even losing some.

A team at Harvard University and the University of East Anglia (UEA) found consuming just a small amount of flavonoids would be beneficial.

 

Tea is included on the list

 

Even a single 80g serving of the fruit or veg per day may improve health.

Professor Aedin Cassidy, from UEA Medical School, said the strongest links were found for foods containing anthocyanins, which are found in blueberries, strawberries, cherries, blackberries, grapes, radishes and blackcurrents.

He said: "We also found that flavonoid polymers - found in tea and apples - were particularly beneficial, along with flavonols - found in tea and onions."

Prof Cassidy's list of the best fruit and veg for maintaining a healthy weight is as follows:

Raspberries

Blueberries

Blackberries

Strawberries

Blackcurrants

Cherries

Grapes

Plums

Radishes

Tea

Cocoa

Pears

Apples

Citrus fruits such as oranges and grapefruits

Onions

Peppers

Aubergines

 

Wine is another tasty treat rich in flavonoids

 

The experts found consuming just a small amount of flavonoids was linked to maintaining a healthy weight, and even a very small weight loss (0.1kg or 0.22lb).

They said many fruits provide huge or a number of benefits - for example a single serving of blueberries contains up to 121mg of anthocyanins and tea contains a range of flavonoids, including flavonols, flavan-3-ols and their polymers.

This means that choosing flavonoid-rich fruits and vegetables could help people shed up to 1lb or 2lb, the team said.

In the study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), experts examined data for 124,086 men and women in the US over a 24-year period.

Prof Cassidy added: "This is the first large study to examine the associations between consumption of all flavonoids and weight gain in middle-aged and older adults.

"Most adults gain weight as they age and even small increases in weight can have a substantial impact on risk of high blood pressure, developing heart disease, cancer or diabetes - so strategies to help individuals maintain a healthy weight in middle-age are needed.

"We found that an increased consumption of most flavonoids was associated with weight maintenance, and even a modest weight loss. The results were found to be consistent across men and women, and different ages.

   

Many fruits like raspberries appear on the list

 

"However losing even small amounts of weight, or preventing weight gain, can improve health and these modest effects were seen with a small, readily achievable increase in intake of many of these fruits.

"Just a single portion of some of these fruits per day would have an important impact on health at a population level.

The team hope the results will help refine previous dietary recommendations and provide guidance on which specific fruits and vegetables to choose for preventing obesity and its potential consequences

Tracy Parker, dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Although the mechanisms of the benefit of eating fruit and vegetables are not well understood, this study suggests that eating fruit and vegetables that contain high levels of flavonoids, such as apples, pears, berries, and peppers, could help people maintain a healthy weight.

"We know that even small increases in weight can have a substantial impact on risk of high blood pressure, developing heart disease, cancer or diabetes. Eating a balanced diet high in fruit and vegetables along with regular physical activity is an essential part of maintaining a healthy weight.

"Unfortunately, most adults in the UK struggle to eat the 'five-a-day fruit and vegetables' recommendation, so the take-home message is still that we all need to be eating more fruit and vegetables, rather than focusing on particular types."