A new study published in PLOS Medicine says some fruits and vegetables are better for weight loss (or gain) than others, according to an article on yahoo.com.

Researchers from the Havard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston looked at diet changes and weight involving more than 133,000 men and women participating in three separate chronic disease related studies.  They were looking for any associations between changes in the ingestion of certain fruits and vegetables and weight change.

What they found was that participants lost an average of one-half pound for each serving of fruit and a quarter pound for each serving of vegetables over a four-year period.

But starchy vegetables like peas and potatoes actually caused a gain in weight.  The most weight gain was recorded in those who ate corn on a regular basis.  Those participants gained 2.04 pounds.  Peas, potatoes and cabbage also recorded weight gains, while berries, apples pears, cauliflower and lettuce recorded weight loss.

The reason?  Starchy vegetables have a high glycemic index, which raises the level of glucose in your blood.   When that happens, the pancreas secretes insulin to lower the blood sugar making you feel hungry sooner than if you had eaten foods with a lower glycemic index.  Also starchy vegetables have more calories that those that are not starchy.

In other words, you feel as if you need to eat again, and over-eating leads to weight gain.

The researchers are not recommending that you not eat corn and potatoes, but rather limit them to one serving of starchy vegetables per day and eat more fruits instead.

Obviously there are worse things that you can eat than corn and peas, since they still contain essential nutrition and vitamins.

Maybe instead of reaching for the chocolate chip cookies, you may consider another serving of healthy fruits or vegetables to satisfy your hunger.