10 Foods that influence your weight

A team of Harvard researchers has revealed the results of a study of 1,20,877 people showing that small changes in lifestyle behaviors such as physical activity, sleep duration, and TV-watching are strongly correlated with long-term weight gain.

But the most important factor was diet-and among the report's most intriguing findings is precisely how much weight gain (or loss) can be attributed to consuming an additional daily serving of a variety of specific foods over a four-year period. These10 food items in particular correlated with long term changes in weight. The first 5 food items promote weight gain, and the next 5 promote weight loss. Lets see how your favourite foods fare in this list.


Foods that correlate to long term weight gain: 

1. Potato Chips - Potato chips are not surprising here, with the starch content and their deep fried texture.

2. Potatoes - The innocent potatoes that you inject into your daily diet by way of making even boring sabzis more interesting could be adding to weight gain.


3. Sugar sweetened beverages - Again, these are silent killers. Without even realizing it, an innocent sip here, and a sip there could lead to more weight gain than you thought possible.


4. Un-processed red meat - Red meat with the high fat content, before it has been trimmed is definitely on the list of foods that lead to weight gain.

5. Processed meats - As are processed meats like sausages and salami. This is because of the high salt content as well as the unnatural preservatives that go into giving these meats a long shelf life.

Foods that correlate to long term weight loss: 

1. Vegetables - No surprises here. Green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, capsicum, all those colours are nutritious and rich, and therefore filling. Veggies are a must to up in your diet if you are on a weight loss mission.

2. Whole grains - Oats, whole wheat, brown rice, are grains rich in fiber and promote weight loss if included in a diet. But that is only if you are switching over from the higher in sugar, refined version of grains.

3. Fruits - Great filler between meals, delicious, and nutritious, fruits are high on the list of food items you should consume to promote weight loss.


4. Nuts - Again a great snack to have between meals instead of wasting your appetite on deep-fried foods that make you feel hungry very quickly.

5. Yoghurt - The study has found that a regular consumption of yoghurt on a long-term basis promotes weight loss.