What can you indulge yourself with while on a diet and counting each consumed calorie? What to do when hunger makes you think only about food, irresistible cravings for sweets, and you don’t even want to look at kefir and buckwheat? All these difficulties can be overcome if you stock up on berries — fresh and frozen, garden and forest, red and green for the entire weight loss period. Healthy, juicy, and low-calorie, they will prevent a breakdown and become a great addition to a diet.
Effectiveness
Why do nutritionists strongly recommend using berries for weight loss? It has been scientifically proven that their regular consumption promotes weight loss, because of:
- low calorie content, which will fit into any diet;
- a large amount of vitamins that normalize the body’s functioning;
- a fat-burning effect that flavonoids and antioxidants possess;
- acceleration of metabolic processes (due to micro- and macroelements);
- natural glucose content;
- providing the necessary energy.
The fat-burning effect and metabolic boost are the main functions that ensure guaranteed weight loss. According to nutritionists, even 500 g of berries per day (any) — and even without a diet, on a healthy diet, you can lose 1 kg per week. Safe, healthy, and effective!
This is interesting. Endocrinologists advise diabetics to regularly consume blueberries and blackberries. They lower blood sugar levels. At the same time, this property aids in weight loss.
Recommendations
Choosing a color
The color of berries is due to the bioactive substances they contain. If you know which processes in the body they are involved in, they can be used purposefully for weight loss.
Red
Strawberries, raspberries, viburnum, goji berries, cranberries, red currants, red rowan, cherries.
They will be useful for those who have decided not to be content with just one diet and are actively involved in sports. They give strength and energy, and provide energy. They relieve self-doubt. They improve digestion and cleanse the body of toxins. They are recommended for anemia.
Orange
Cloudberry, sea buckthorn, hawthorn.
They will help those who suffer from compulsive overeating to lose weight, as they relieve depression. They strengthen the immune system. They improve blood circulation and digestion. They are recommended for increased mental stress, as they activate cognitive abilities.
Green
Gooseberries, grapes.
Excess weight is often accompanied by hypertension and heart problems. In this case, during weight loss, it is imperative to include green berries in the diet. They lower blood pressure and strengthen the cardiovascular system. They relieve headaches — a frequent companion of diets.
Yellow
Gooseberries, some varieties of raspberries and rose hips.
Useful for cleansing the liver and intestines. So they can be actively consumed during fasting days and in detoxification programs.
Purple
Blackberries, black grapes, blueberries, acai, chokeberry, chokeberry, honeysuckle, black currant.
They will help those who are nervous and do not sleep well to withstand the diet. They have a calming effect.
Brown
There aren’t many of these—dark red, almost brown grapes and well-ripened gooseberries. But their role in weight loss can hardly be overestimated: only they are able to normalize the hormonal background, which often becomes the cause of excess weight. They have a beneficial effect on the thyroid gland, neutralize allergens, and improve the condition of the skin.
Be attentive! You should not eat lots of berries with gastrointestinal diseases. This threatens heartburn, exacerbation of gastritis, and ulcers.
Are frozen berries healthy?
Without a doubt, fresh berries contain the maximum amount of nutrients, so their benefits for weight loss are not being discussed. But are they preserved when frozen? What to do if excess weight needs to be shed in the winter?
It turns out that frozen berries retain:
- a complete set of vitamins and minerals;
- taste when frozen instantly;
- calorie content;
- useful properties.
But they also have disadvantages:
- frozen berries, like fresh berries, can cause allergies;
- they lose nutrients and properties when frozen again;
- store-bought frozen berries can cause food poisoning due to non-compliance with procurement, storage, and transportation rules.
So for weight loss, both fresh and frozen berries can be used equally effectively.
Forest or garden berries?
Forest berries are smaller in size than garden berries, and they always have a lot of insects. And city dwellers often do not have the opportunity to collect them in nature. Therefore, most people prefer to grow berry crops on their own summer cottages or buy them in stores. After fertilizers and decent care, they often reach gigantic sizes, there are no pests on them—therefore, they deceptively seem more useful.
In fact, nutritionists and nutritionists unequivocally call forest berries more useful for overall health and for weight loss in particular. For example: French scientists compared the properties and composition of garden and wild raspberries. The latter contained 3 times more minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants than the former. This is because in the natural environment, plants actively fight for survival and have stronger immunity. Garden berries do not need it, since they will be protected from pests and other adverse factors anyway.
Therefore, if there is an opportunity to eat forest berries, weight loss will go much faster. Nutritionists call cranberries, blueberries, lingonberries, raspberries, and strawberries the most useful.
Tips for losing weight
For weight loss, you can:
- organize a diet for 2 weeks, daily including 500 g of various berries in the diet (daily calorie content — no more than 1,500 kcal);
- arrange fasting berry days every 10 days;
- actively consume berries on the background of a healthy diet, and include them in low-calorie dishes.
At the same time, one must not forget about the basic rules of losing weight: eat less, move more, drink plenty of water, do not get nervous, get enough sleep, breathe fresh air, and follow the daily routine. Without these components, berries may be powerless in the fight against excess weight.
Helpful advice. Many people are allergic to strawberries. But this is the only case when they still may not give up this yummy, as everyone who has a similar reaction to any other product has to do. It turns out that fermented milk drinks neutralize the allergens contained in this berry. If you eat it with kefir, yogurt, or regular milk, there will be no side effects.
TOP-5 berries
Acai
Calorie content — 160 kcal. GI — 14.
Dark purple fruits of the Brazilian palm tree. Acai berries are believed to aid in active weight loss because:
- they have a pronounced fat-burning effect;
- they provide long-lasting satiety;
- they improve digestion;
- they normalize metabolism.
However, there is no scientifically proven evidence of their benefits for weight loss. In addition, it is a tropical berry, and the healthiest ones are those that grow in their native area. Another disadvantage is the high calorie content.
Acai has a thin and delicate skin, so the fruits deteriorate greatly during transportation. Because of this, finding them fresh in our area is a difficult task. But there are a huge number of fat-burning drinks and all kinds of dietary supplements based on them.
Goji Berries
