5 Fall Foods to Help You Lose Weight
By Nutritionist: Kelly Carter BASc (Hons), CNP
The changing of the seasons can mean changing the diet for many of us. Typically, when the weather gets colder, we start to crave more warm comfort foods such as casseroles, stews and all of the starchy carbohydrates including breads, pastas and potatoes. The pounds can really start piling on during fall and winter months, but they don’t have to!
It is important to focus on consuming fresh local food as much as possible to keep our vitamin and mineral intake up. This will boost our immune system constantly and support a lean body all year round! The weather may be getting cooler but the produce is hotter than ever this time of year!
Here are my top 5 fall foods to help support a healthy and fit body during the fall months:
1. Parsnips
These delicately sweet flavoured carrot-looking vegetables are a good source of fibre, vitamin C, calcium and iron. The best quality parsnips will be medium sized and firm to the touch.
Traditionally, parsnips are boiled and mashed together with carrots, but they can be steamed, boiled, roasted or sautéed as a side vegetable. They also stand in nicely for carrots, potatoes or sweet potatoes in most recipes, and lend a gentle sweetness to soups and other combinations of root vegetables.
2. Sweet potatoes
Don’t be fooled by the name! A sweet potato is not related to the potato family. Potatoes are classified as tubers, while the sweet potato is a storage root.
Good-quality sweet potatoes will be firm, smooth-skinned and tan to light rose colour. They contain four times the recommended daily allowance of beta-carotene (vitamin A) in a serving. You would have to eat 23 portions of broccoli to consume the same amount of beta-carotene. Sweet potatoes are also high in vitamin C and provide three grams of fibre per serving.
Sweet potatoes are considered a low glycemic food, an ideal choice for people with diabetes. Low glycemic means that the carbohydrate in sweet potatoes is released slowly, which helps maintain steady blood sugar levels.
3. Clementine’s
Sometimes known as mandarin oranges, clementines are the baby cousins of the navel orange. Clementine’s are often seedless and have loose skin, so they are easy to peel making them attractive on-the-go snacks during the fall season. They are low calorie, an excellent source of vitamin C and A which are used as antioxidants in the body to support immune health!
Swapping out your daily banana for a clementine in the fall/winter months is a great food swap to keep lean (less sugar from the clementine) in the fall!
4. Apples
Tis the season of apples! A great fall tradition is to go apple picking in one of the many farms across Ontario. Having a local, fresh apple a day, supports a fit lifestyle. With over 4g fibre per apple this perfectly packaged fruit can keep you from over eating at dinner if you have as an afternoon snack, especially if paired with a little peanut butter!
Apples contain some of the most potent antioxidants known to man, flavonoids. Several studies have shown that people who eat a diet that’s rich in flavonoids have a lower risk of heart disease and heart attacks.
5. Pumpkins
These vegetables are more than Halloween decorations! The pumpkin’s bright orange colour is loaded with an important antioxidant, beta-carotene, as well as being rich in vitamin C and folate. Start adding pumpkin to your diet as they are extremely low calorie, high in fibre and obviously antioxidants.
Even the seeds are packed with nutritional value. Pumpkin seeds are only second to peanuts in protein content and a good source of zinc and omega-3 fatty acids. Pumpkin seeds will support a lean body due to its protein and healthy fat content. The proteins will support muscle repair and building and the healthy fats will keep you feeling full and satisfied – preventing over eating.
There’s no shortage of fall foods for weight loss, and these are just a select few. And don’t forget, autumn is also the perfect season to get outside, enjoy a hike with the dog or the family and enjoy the beautiful fall colours.
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