Chewing takes longer and ultimately provides more satisfaction.
Which fruits should you eat? I love cantaloupe, cherries, and all kinds of
berries on the Perfect 10 Diet . They’re great for weight loss since they are very
low in sugar and calories.
Oranges are high in vitamin C and can help balance cortisol, making them a
great stress-relieving food. Do you like grapes? Wonderful! They’re rich in
resveratrol, which is good for your heart. Ladies, if you want to show off your
killer legs in a pair of Jimmy Choos or Manolo Blahniks, how about eating
plums regularly? They are rich in vitamin K—much more so than any other fruit
—which helps reduce the appearance of spider and varicose veins.
All fruits are good for you, but you should limit tropical fruits like mangoes
and bananas if you’re having a hard time losing weight. For those of you with a
sluggish thyroid, strawberries should also be limited as they can interfere with
the thyroid hormone production.
Are you really hungry? How about enjoying a piece of cheese with your
favorite fruit, or top a piece of fruit with a few teaspoons of unsweetened
whipped cream. It will fill you up nicely. The fat from the cheese or the whipped
cream will delay the absorption of fructose into your bloodstream and will leave
you feeling full and satisfied.
The most nutritious part of many fruits are the skins, which are rich in
antioxidants, so don’t peel them. You should eliminate dried fruits from your
diet, since they no longer contain the water that helps fill you up.
Legumes
Legumes should be part of a healthy diet. Try to eat them 3 to 4 times a week.
They’re a good source of carbs and also contain small amounts of protein. In
fact, legumes are bona fide belly flatteners. The list includes black beans, black-
eyed peas, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, navy beans, pinto beans, and lentils.
They’re high in soluble fiber, so they’re low on the glycemic index and do not
impact your blood sugar or insulin levels in any negative way.
Legumes are also a great source of antioxidants, the antidote to free radicals.
Antioxidants prevent heart disease and cancer. In fact, recent research indicates
that eating legumes can prevent colon adenomas and colon cancer. I encourage
you to include many Middle Eastern dishes made with legumes, such as hummus
and tahini, in your diet. Legumes are also great as healthy snacks or appetizers.
There is one exception. Soybeans, which are mostly genetically modified, are
the only legumes that I want you to avoid. It’s estimated that 85 percent of
American soy crops are genetically modified to enhance resistance to spoilage.