One of the struggles people have is being able to lose weight no matter how hard they seem to try. As evidenced in today’s world, obesity is prevalent among adults and children and sometimes just exercising alone is not enough. In a world that is heavily bombarded with processed and refined foods, it’s easy to sabotage your diet quick.

While exercise is most certainly important as a part of a healthier lifestyle, food is probably much more important for controlling weight. In fact, the federal committee are starting to encourage Americans to eat more plant-based foods and the Food and Drug Administration reconsidering changing how the food labels are shown.

New current research shows the ever-promising effects of a high fiber diet as an effective way to manage your weight and overall health.

High fiber diet for optimal weight and diabetes management

According to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers enrolled 240 participants that have metabolic syndrome and randomly assigned them to either the caloric restriction group followed by the American Heart Association (AHA) that includes limiting saturated fats or the high fiber group that includes ample amounts of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. (1,2)

The participants followed the new diet for a period of one year and no exercise recommendations were provided. The results show that the mean weight loss for the AHA group was 2.7 kg and the high-fiber group was 2.1 kg. (2) The high-fiber group also improved their cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, and inflammation levels more than the researchers expected, which proves that a high-fiber diet is the better choice. (2,3)

“By changing one thing, people in the fiber group were able to improve their diet and lose weight and improve their overall markers for metabolic syndrome,” says study author Dr. Yunsheng Ma. (3)

Focus on adding in new foods rather than what not to eat

Researchers are encouraged by the results and suggest adding more fiber to improve overall health and satiety while consuming foods. They also noted the importance of encouraging people to add certain types of foods rather than telling them what not to eat. “Very few people reach the goals that are recommended. Asking them to focus on eating more of a certain food—rather than telling them what not to eat—may help people to think more positively about changes in their diet, and make the goals more achievable,” says Ma. (3)

For optimal health, the current dietary guidelines calls for 25 grams per day for women and 38 grams per day for men, however most Americans get less than half the amount. What many people fail to realize is that processed and refined foods contains poor source of beneficial fiber. The good stuff comes from whole plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, beans, and nuts. (4)

Many whole foods naturally contain both soluble, which helps you feel full longer and control weight, and insoluble fibers, which helps food move through the digestive tract for healthy elimination. These are beneficial fibers that can overall help with effective digestion, absorption, and boost the immune system.

Sources for this article include:

(1) www.heart.org
(2) annals.org
(3) time.com
(4) www.webmd.com
(5) articles.mercola.com

Image source: flic.kr

Article originally published on RawFoodWorld.com republished with permission