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15 Essential Nutrients You Need To Lose Weight

You will require these essential nutrients for weight loss. Read to find out more on this!

By Sravia Sivaram

What actually contributes to your weight loss are some of the nutrients that are found in food.

Following a diet based on your own food preferences and adopting a nutrient guideline is what is necessary to achieve your weight loss goal. Recommendations for carbohydrates, protein and fat depend on your total calorie intake during the weight loss process.

nutrients to lose weight

Many adults don't get enough of nutrients that are necessary to attain a healthy weight loss goal. Losing weight isn't just about cutting calories, as a low-calorie diet can do more harm than good if you aren't getting the right amount of nutrients.

A balanced diet includes protein, fats, carbohydrates, minerals, etc., and you also need to drink plenty of water.

In this article, we have listed some of the nutrients to lose weight. Read further to know more about the best nutrients that are required for weight loss.

1. Arginine:

1. Arginine:

Research has found that administering arginine to obese women over 12 weeks resulted in a 3-inch average reduction in waist size and a 6.5-pound average weight loss.

2. Magnesium:

2. Magnesium:

This mineral helps in burning of the fat. Higher magnesium intake was associated with lower levels of fasting glucose and insulin, as noted by a popular study.

3. Potassium:

3. Potassium:

Potassium helps in flattening your belly and also aids with muscle recovery after a workout. It also helps reduce bloat by flushing out the excess sodium from the body.

4. Choline:

4. Choline:

This is a fat-blasting B vitamin that turns off the genes that cause your body to store fat around your liver. Make sure to include this nutrient on a daily basis.

5. Resistant Starch:

5. Resistant Starch:

Also known as slow carbs, resistant starch passes through the small intestine without being digested. It feeds on the healthy gut bacteria that helps you keep yourself fuller for longer and burns fat.

6. Omega-3 Fatty Acids:

6. Omega-3 Fatty Acids:

Omega-3 FAs help reduce the stomach fat storage by dealing with inflammation. Further, it was also found that people with highest levels of omega-3s lived two years longer than those who didn't. This is one of the best nutrients to lose weight.

7. Leucine:

7. Leucine:

This amino acid increases the body's ability to synthesize protein. It helps in reducing body fat and also in maintaining a lean body mass.

8. Vitamin D:

8. Vitamin D:

This vitamin helps in regulating the appetite. This vitamin has to be a part of your weight loss diet and it particularly helps in reducing the fat from your belly area.

9. Monounsaturated Fats:

9. Monounsaturated Fats:

These healthy fats prevent the storage of belly flubber. It was found that those who ate half a fresh avocado, which is rich in oleic acid, reported a 40% decrease in the desire to eat for hours afterwards.

10. Calcium:

10. Calcium:

Calcium helps your body burn more fat. It also maintains your energy levels of the body and you wouldn't get the desire to rush to a bag of chips due to hunger later on. This is one of the best nutrients to lose weight.

11. Vitamin C:

11. Vitamin C:

Stress is caused by high levels of cortisol that causes belly fat storage. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that has been proven to help people cope with stress and hence prevent weight gain.

12. Selenium:

12. Selenium:

Those people with a sluggish thyroid gland exhibit deficiencies in selenium along with slowed metabolism and weight gain. A supplementation of 80 micrograms of selenium per day will help reduce anti-thyroid antibodies.

13. B Vitamins:

13. B Vitamins:

Vitamin B12 helps to metabolize two main energy sources, which are fats and carbohydrates. This is one of the best nutrients that is required to lose weight.

14. Zinc:

14. Zinc:

People with low levels of insulin don't secrete enough insulin which can cut our energy levels and make us eat more to compensate. Thereby, zinc would help regularise the insulin secretion levels in the body.

15. Tryptophan:

15. Tryptophan:

Getting good sleep helps us lose weight. It helps our body recover and also builds muscle mass. If you're not getting good sleep, then you must go for food sources of amino acid - tryptophan, which is a precursor to serotonin. This gets converted to melatonin to encourage sleep. This is one of the best nutrients to lose weight.

Story first published: Tuesday, October 31, 2017, 16:46 [IST]
Read more about: nutrition weight loss