5 Ingredients of a Get-Skinny Supper

The Lebanese Recipes Kitchen (The home of delicious Lebanese Recipes and Middle Eastern food recipes) invites you to read about the 5 Ingredients of a Get-Skinny Supper Recipe.

Find out which 5 ingredients to add to your dinner for a healthier, diet-friendly meal.

I’m crazy about fall foods. I love apples and squash and most of all I love... chili. I honestly could eat it every day. No exaggeration. In my book, EatingWell’s Zesty Wheat Berry-Black Bean Chili, with a green salad on the side, is not only a perfectly wholesome, yummy dinner—it’s an ideal get-skinny supper because it contains 5 ingredients that research shows help with weight loss. Here are the 5 key ingredients of my favorite get skinny supper.

Nicci Micco, M.S., Editor-at-Large

1. Beans, Beans...

They’re good for your heart. They’re also good for keeping you feeling full and—according to recent research—blasting belly fat. The secret? Soluble fiber. Researchers at Wake Forest Medical Center reported that for every 10-gram increase in soluble fiber per day, visceral fat (the more dangerous kind deep in your belly, surrounding your organs) dropped by 3.7 percent over five years. (Other sources of soluble fiber include oats, barley, apples, okra, citrus.)

Whole grains are also rich in fiber (soluble and insoluble!) so adding things like wheat berries or barley to your chili gives it even more staying power. Of course, if you’re like my husband and want to eat something besides chili once in a while, you could expand your whole-grain repertoire to include other whole-grain recipes for slimming soups, herb-studded pilafs, and more.

2. Chile Pepper
 

Research suggests that capsaicin, the compound that gives fresh chiles, and spices including cayenne and chipotle, their kick can boost metabolic burn. In other words, you can torch more calories with spicy recipes (including chili)—so try a few new ones.

3. Salad Greens
 

Starting with a salad may prevent you from overdoing high-calorie fare later. In fact, research out of Penn State shows that eating a first-course salad can reduce overall calorie intake at a meal by up to 12 percent.

4. Vinegar
 

At our house, side salads are simple: mixed greens with some snap peas, cherry tomatoes and sliced black olives topped with a little olive oil and vinegar—another ingredient that may have weight-loss benefits. In one 2005 study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, including 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar with a meal resulted in subjects eating 200 to 275 fewer calories through the day. “The acid in vinegar may inhibit the digestion of the starch, so the starch is rendered into something like fiber, which can’t be digested well,” says Carol Johnston, Ph.D., R.D., professor and chair of the department of nutrition at Arizona State University.

5. Whole Grains
 

Whole grains are also rich in fiber (soluble and insoluble!) so adding things like wheat berries or barley to your chili gives it even more staying power. Of course, if you’re like my husband and want to eat something besides chili once in a while, you could expand your whole-grain repertoire to include other whole-grain recipes for slimming soups, herb-studded pilafs, and more.


From eatingwell.com

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