Can they contribute to weight gain?
Eating starchy vegetables, such as peas and corn, can put on the weight, but sticking to high-fibre and low glycaemic fruits and vegetables will help you shed the pounds.
What should I be eating?
A diet that’s rich in berries, apples and cauliflower can help stabilise weight and also achieve manageable weight loss, say researchers. Other weight losing foods include green, leafy vegetables, citrus fruits and cruciferous vegetables.
Research
Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health looked at the weight and diets of 133,468 men and women in the Nurses’ Health Study II. Those who ate fruits and non-starchy vegetables reported a half pound (0.53lb) weight loss over four years for a daily serving of each fruit or vegetable.
But those who regularly ate starchy vegetables, such as potatoes, peas and corn, put on up to 2 pounds (lbs) over the four years.
High-fibre and low glycaemic fruits and vegetables also helped prevent obesity and type 2 diabetes, the researchers said.
Source – PLOS Medicine, 2015