The 12 Best Diet Foods: Eat More of These Foods and Weigh Less

Diet Food

Chicken, Beans, and Fish

The Benefit: Women who ate 120 grams of protein a day and exercised regularly lost an average of 21.5 pounds over four months—6.5 more pounds than did exercising women who consumed an equivalent number of calories on a high-carbohydrate diet. The protein group also lost more weight in the abdominal area (while retaining all muscle mass) than the carbohydrate group did, according to a study in the Journal of Nutrition.

How It Helps You Lose Weight: “Your body has to work harder to digest proteins than it does with carbohydrates and fats, so protein actually burns more calories,” says Joy Bauer, registered dietitian and coauthor of Joy Bauer’s Food Cures (Rodale Books). “And because it takes a while to digest, it also makes you feel full longer.” Eating protein may also signal your stomach to produce less ghrelin, an appetite-stimulating hormone, researchers reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism