Introduction: If a meal has too low a proportion of vegetables and no green leafy vegetables at all, the total volume of food consumed will be greatly reduced, the fiber content will be low, and the feeling of fullness will be poor. Even if you feel full at the time, you will get hungry easily afterward.
People often have a misconception that vegetables are very low in calories, have no fat or starch, and that eating them or not doesn't seem to have much to do with feeling full. In fact, the opposite is true: if a meal has too low a proportion of vegetables and no green leafy vegetables at all, the total volume of food consumed will be greatly reduced, the fiber content will be low, and the feeling of fullness will be poor. Even if you feel full at the time, you will get hungry easily afterward. Conversely, if you eat a large bowl of vegetables high in dietary fiber during a meal, even if the amount of staple foods is not increased and the quantity of protein foods like meat and fish is not large, you will still feel very full from the meal and will not feel hungry for a long time.
In fact, eating more vegetables can not only help prevent constipation, but also help increase the number of chews, slow down the rate of gastric emptying, slow down the postprandial rise in blood sugar, and stabilize blood sugar fluctuations for several hours after the meal. The overall result is a significant enhancement of the satiety of the meal. Japanese research has shown that for diabetic patients, when eating the same amount of staple food, the blood sugar fluctuation range throughout the day is very different whether they eat a bowl of vegetables first and then the staple food, or eat the staple food directly without vegetables first and then eat vegetables. The method of eating vegetables first results in a significantly lower fluctuation.
Mushroom and Vegetable Dish
However, there is a wide variety of vegetables, and not every kind can achieve the best effect of balancing blood sugar and losing weight. People often think that as long as they choose low-calorie vegetables like cucumbers and tomatoes and avoid starchy vegetables like potatoes and taro, they can help themselves lose weight. This idea is understandable, but it is far from the actual effect. Those who lose weight by eating only tomatoes and cucumbers are invariably so hungry that their stomachs are pressed against their backs, feeling unable to stick with it long-term, and their bodies do not feel much lighter, and in some cases, after long-term dieting this way, they may experience edema and look pale and wan.
Vegetables like cucumbers, tomatoes, and winter melon are indeed very low in calories when calculated per 100 grams, but they have relatively low dietary fiber content and do not stay in the stomach for long enough, so they are not the best "filling" vegetables. Potatoes and lotus roots contain more starch, but they are not "fattening" vegetables. The key to using vegetables to help with weight loss is to categorize vegetables and let each play its different role. At the same time, it is essential to incorporate a large amount of vegetables into a nutritionally balanced diet, rather than eating only vegetables and no other types of food.
What are the types of vegetables?
Staple Vegetables
Staple Vegetables: Lotus root, water chestnut, water caltrop, arrowhead, and all kinds of tubers (potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, taro). They all contain starch and can partially replace staple grains like rice and flour. However, compared to white rice and white steamed buns, they have higher fiber, higher vitamin content, a lower glycemic response, and stronger satiety. When eating the same amount of calories, they are less likely to make people hungry. Therefore, they should occupy a certain portion of the daily staple food.
Cold-shredded Lettuce
Hunger-Satiating Vegetables
Hunger-Satiating Vegetables: Mushrooms (all kinds of mushrooms, shiitake, wood ear, etc.), algae (kelp, wakame, nori, kelp, etc.), various types of cauliflower, beans, and all kinds of dark green leafy vegetables (spinach, amaranth, kale, water spinach, Malabar spinach, mustard greens, rapeseed, bok choy, etc.). These are all vegetables that are high in fiber, low in calories, and particularly good at filling the stomach. Although they contain almost no starch, they can make people feel full, and this feeling of fullness lasts for a long time. Therefore, you should eat this type of vegetable with every meal, and it is best to eat these vegetables before eating rice and flour staple foods to slow down the postprandial rise in blood sugar.
Low-Calorie Filling Vegetables
Low-Calorie Filling Vegetables: Tomato, cucumber, winter melon, zucchini, cabbage, radish, lettuce, napa cabbage, iceberg lettuce, etc. Most of these vegetables have relatively low nutrient content and also lower fiber content (fiber and vegetable strings are not the same concept; cauliflower and mushrooms don't have strings but have more fiber than cabbage). However, they are high in water and low in calories, so they can be eaten almost without limit. As long as you eat enough of them, they can also play a certain role in increasing satiety during a meal, at least making people feel like they have eaten a lot psychologically. They can also increase water and potassium, which is very beneficial for patients with hypertension and gout.
In summary, replacing half of the white rice and white flour with staple vegetables, including two types of hunger-satiating vegetables in every meal, plus a large amount of filling vegetables, will make a big difference in the satiety of the meal. Even if you only eat half a bowl of rice, you won't feel hungry, and you will get much more vitamins and minerals than you would from a meal with two liang of staple food and a small amount of vegetables!
Special Note
The only thing to pay attention to is the cooking method for vegetables: steaming, blanching, boiling in soup, stewing, stir-frying quickly, and cold mixing are all acceptable, with the absolute prerequisite of using little oil. Otherwise, don't expect a greasy braised eggplant and a plate of fried dry beans to help with weight loss. At the same time, use less salt. Otherwise, while eating a large amount of vegetables, you are also consuming a large amount of salt, which will not help control blood pressure, reduce edema, or be beneficial for bone and cardiovascular health.
Zucchini shreds stir-fried with small shrimp