The 3 Foods You Should Eat Everyday To Lose Weight and Lower Blood Sugar

Have you ever felt guilty about eating carbs while trying to lose weight? You're not alone. Many of us have been conditioned to fear carbohydrates, but Michelle Roots, a kinesiologist, personal trainer, and nutrition coach with over 16 years of experience, is here to set the record straight. "If you're someone who's on a weight loss journey and wants to eat carbs guilt-free and understand what they are doing in your body, make sure you watch this video all the way to the end," Roots advises. She explains that not all carbs are created equal, and some can actually aid in your weight loss journey. Read on to discover seven complex carbs in your diet to help you lose weight.

New Study Finds Healthy Carbs Aid in Weight Loss

While low or zero-carb diets have been a mainstream weight loss trend, recent research suggests that eating more of the right kind of carbs can actually help with weight loss. A 2023 study published in BMJ states, "increased consumption of carbohydrates from refined grains, starchy vegetables, and sugary drinks is associated with greater weight gain throughout midlife." However, the same study found that "an increase in fiber and carbs from better sources was linked to less weight gain."

Myths About Carbs and Weight Gain

This view is echoed by Joanna Soh, a certified Personal Trainer (ACE), Nutrition Coach, and Women's Fitness Specialist (NASM), who says: "We have been brainwashed to believe that carbs will make you fat and that you should stay away from it. Well, that's absolute rubbish because not all carbs are created equal."

Understanding Carbohydrates: The Good, The Bad, and The Fiber

In her post, Roots breaks down carbohydrates into three categories: simple carbs, complex carbs, and fiber. "Simple carbs are things like white bread, donuts, cheeseburgers, french fries, and other highly processed and refined foods with lots of added sugar," Roots explains. These cause rapid spikes in blood sugar, leading to crashes and cravings. On the other hand, complex carbs, or "good carbs," are typically unprocessed or minimally processed foods that provide sustained energy and essential nutrients.

Smart Carbs

Soh refers to these beneficial carbohydrates as "smart carbs," defining them as follows: "They are extremely nutrient-dense. They are high in fiber. They will help to improve your digestion. They will help to stabilize blood sugar. They will sustain your energy level. They will help you to feel fuller for much longer. They will improve your physical performance, and they will not be highly refined."

The Role of Carbs in Weight Loss

Contrary to popular belief, carbohydrates can be beneficial for weight loss. "Carbohydrates are the main fuel source for the body," Roots states. "Carbohydrates are stored in your muscle as glucose and provide the body with energy to not only go through your daily functions but also to crush your workouts." When chosen wisely, they can keep you feeling full and satisfied, making it easier to maintain a calorie deficit necessary for weight loss.

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Key to Energy and Weight Loss

Soh emphasizes the importance of carbs even for those on low-carb diets: "Even if you are on a low-carb diet, your body needs carbs to be at its best state and to speed up weight loss. If you're constantly feeling hungry, you don't feel satisfied even after a big meal, or perhaps you're feeling cranky and low in energy, and you don't feel like your workout is improving, those are signs that your body is lacking in carbs."

Roots recommends incorporating these seven complex carbs into your diet to support weight loss and overall health:

Oats: Your Fiber-Rich Breakfast Staple

"Oats are loaded with fiber and they're a great source of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals," Roots explains. Whether it's rolled oats or steel-cut oats, you can add them to smoothies, eat them for breakfast, or use them in healthier recipes for protein bars and pancakes.

Soh adds: "Start your morning with oats. It is low in GI and high in fiber. A bowl of oats for breakfast can last you to lunch without feeling packaged."

Whole Grain Breads and Pasta: The Smarter Carb Choice

Roots emphasizes the importance of choosing whole grain options: "You want to make sure when you're choosing a bread or choosing a pasta that the main source is coming from whole grains, just means it's less processed, healthier, higher in fiber, and higher in vitamins and minerals."

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Sweet Potatoes: The Nutrient-Packed Powerhouse

"Sweet potatoes are high in fiber and, again, loaded with vitamins and minerals, and they're loaded with antioxidants as well," Roots states. While she prefers sweet potatoes, she notes that white and red potatoes are also great carb options.

Soh adds an interesting fact: "Sweet potatoes are superior when it comes to their vitamin A content. A cup of cooked sweet potato contains 3000 times the amount of vitamin A."

Brown Rice: The Low Glycemic Index Option

Roots recommends brown rice because it's "loaded with vitamins and minerals and of course lots of fiber and lower on the glycemic index, meaning it doesn't spike your blood sugar as quickly as some other refined carbs."

Quinoa: The Protein-Rich Grain Alternative

"Quinoa is loaded with vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, but it's also got a little bit more protein than brown rice," Roots explains. "In one cup of quinoa, you're going to get about eight grams of protein and about 39 grams of carbs for only 200 calories."

Soh elaborates on the benefits of quinoa: "It is incredibly popular because it contains all nine essential amino acids, which our body needs to build and maintain lean muscles. The more lean muscles you have, the more calories you burn, which means quicker weight loss."

This is supported by studies reported by the Cleveland Clinic: "Quinoa is a nutrient-dense food. One serving, 222 calories, offers 8 grams of protein, 5.2 grams of fiber, and lots of nutrients like thiamin, riboflavin, iron, and magnesium."

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Black Beans: The Fiber and Protein Combo

Roots praises black beans for their nutritional profile: "Half a cup of black beans is only about a hundred calories, but you're getting about eight grams of protein and about 20 grams of carbs and about seven grams of fiber."

"Beans are a great source of protein packed with fiber. Half a cup of boiled black beans has 120 calories, 22.5 grams of carbs, 7.5 grams of protein, and eight grams of fiber," adds Soh.

Cruciferous Vegetables: The Low-Calorie, High-Nutrient Option

"Cruciferous vegetables, what are they? Broccoli, cauliflower, kale, spinach, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage," Roots lists. She highlights their benefits: "They are low in calories, but super high in fiber. So for example, one whole cup of broccoli is only about 50 calories, but you're going to get about four grams of protein, but 11 grams of carbs and four grams of fiber."

The Importance of Sustainability

Roots stresses the importance of finding an eating plan you can stick to long-term. "Whatever you are doing to lose that weight, you are going to have to keep doing to keep it off," she points out. By including a variety of complex carbs in your diet, you're more likely to maintain a balanced and sustainable approach to weight loss.

"Consume smart carbs in moderation, and you will start to see the difference in your physical appearance, the way you feel, and you will achieve your results quicker," says Soh.

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Listen to Your Body

Ultimately, Roots encourages individuals to pay attention to how different foods make them feel. "Learn more about proteins and carbs and fats, what they do when they come into your body, and how you feel when you're eating these foods," she advises. This self-awareness can help you make informed choices that support both your weight loss goals and overall well-being. And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.

Do you want to starve your fat cells without starving yourself? According to one expert, there are a few things you can do to make it happen. Dr. Nick Zyrowski, DC, BS, is a natural health and wellness expert who regularly shares informational videos on social media. “Starve your fat, but not yourself is the ideal case scenario for anyone who's trying to lose weight. You maintain lean muscle all while getting rid of the fat from your body, which is going to make you unhealthy, cause metabolic syndrome and even disease,” he says in the clip. Here is how to do it.

24 Hour Intermittent Fasting Periods Are Effective in Fat Burning

“One of the things that we wanna look at right away when we talk about starving fat off our body but not actually starving ourselves is intermittent fasting,” he says, citing research finding that a 24-hour fasting period is the most effective in helping you starve the fat cells on your body, “which you're trying to get rid of, but also helped you preserve lean muscle,” he says. “During this fasting time, what was found is that urea nitrogen actually started increasing in the body about 24 hours into the fast. And why is that significant? Well, it's significant because that is a byproduct of muscle breakdown.”

Why It’s Important to Maintain Leave Muscle Mass

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He goes on to explain that maintaining lean muscle mass is “very important for us as we age.” But here are some things to consider. “First of all, how can we get the best results on that fast and starve the fat? But also, how can we, even when not fasting, continue that process of starving fat but not ourselves? Because we all want to eat good food and eat lots of it, but we wanna make sure we're making the right choices,” he says.

You Need to Focus on Blood Sugar and Insulin

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He says that you need to focus on what blood sugar and insulin are doing. “When you are in a fasted state, one of the amazing things that happens with it is that it helps drop our blood sugar down. When you drop your blood sugar down, it automatically drops this hormone called insulin down. And this is really important because insulin is going to block fat loss if it's raised to a high level in the body,” he says.

To Lower It, Avoid Carbs and Sugar

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He explains that insulin increases by eating lots of carbohydrates and sugar. So, the “first tool is that we're going to use this fast to drop our blood sugar, drop our insulin, and allow us to start attacking some of that fat for energy. And how this works is that your body is probably burning sugar right now, but when you drop blood sugar, and you drop your insulin levels, what will happen is it'll allow your body actually to start burning the fat on your body for energy,” he says.

You Need to Eat More, But Healthy Food

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“First, we have to make sure that we feed our body and not our fat,” he says. He explains that this doesn’t mean you need to starve yourself. In fact, it could be that you need to eat more. “The individual who is eating a ton of food happens to be eating really healthy food. They're eating proteins and vegetables and fruit, whereas the person who's saying, I'm hardly eating anything and I'm continuing to gain weight, or I can't lose weight, well, they're drinking a soda, they're eating fried food, they're eating french fries and hamburgers and that sort of thing. So we have to make sure that when it comes to our diet and when it comes to actually feeding our body and not our fat, that we're actually giving our body what it needs,” he says. Your body “needs the vegetables, it needs the micronutrients from the fruit, and then you need the good proteins. This is what our body needs. And then the healthy fat,” he says.

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And You Need to Burn Sugar

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“The other thing that we have to really focus on doing is burning sugar. We want to be burning the sugar out of our system. So here's what happens: our body likes to store sugar in the form of glycogen. And when you have this storage sugar, what happens is it's going to block fat loss. So, therefore, we wanna burn through a lot of that storage sugar so that you can find yourself in a position where you're burning that fat for energy,” he says.

Also, Exercise

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You also need to “exercise to help burn through stored sugar,” he says. “You're going to access that fat storage much quicker to start burning fat for energy and lose weight, starving those fat cells. So whenever you're fasting, it's actually a great idea to continue to exercise. Go for a nice 30-minute brisk walk, and walking is going to be a really good way to start burning that fat for energy and starving the fat. So when you walk, when you exercise, you're burning fat, you're burning sugar.”

And, Don’t Overeat

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“The next big factor that I want you to really focus on is don't overeat. This is something that's very important. And the fact of the matter is, if you're eating good, healthy foods, as we talked about over here, you're going to be able to eat a lot of them and actually nourish your body correctly and feel fulfilled and satiated. However, if you're eating unhealthy foods, ones that are high in sugar and high in carbohydrates, you're not going to be able to eat as much of them, and you're always going to be hungry and left with cravings. And so we wanna always make sure we're eating those healthy foods to feel satisfied, but we also don't wanna be eating too much,” he says.

You Might Want to Count Calories

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He notes that you should pay attention to how many calories you're eating. “I'm not a big fan of tracking calories in the sense of watching them every day because it can be a little bit too much for the average person. It's a little bit overwhelming over time. However, it's always good to track your calories for a short period of time to truly understand how much your body needs as far as fuel goes because our bodies are amazing machines. They're designed actually to go through periods of starvation. So that's why when you overeat, your body stores all of that energy that you're eating that food as fat. So if we don't wanna put a bunch of food into fat storage, what we ultimately wanna do is not overeat,” he explains, suggesting using a calorie calculator to “figure out how many calories you need throughout the day.”

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You Can Put Yourself in a Deficit

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And lastly, “if you want even to push the fat burning a little bit further, you can put yourself into a calorie deficit,” he says. This could be “consuming about 500 calories less per day than what is required of your body that will actually help you lose weight.” And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.