Research

Hormonal

Higher fiber and lower glycemic load (GL) in vegetables are associated with stronger inverse relationships with weight change, whereas fiber and GL content in fruits do not significantly modify the weight loss association.

For weight management, prioritize vegetables with high fiber and low glycemic load (like leafy greens and cruciferous veggies). For fruits, the type (fiber/GL) matters less; all whole fruits seem to support weight loss, likely due to other beneficial compounds. Avoid fruit juice.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Vegetables having both higher fiber and lower glycemic load were more strongly inversely associated with weight change compared with lower-fiber, higher-glycemic-load vegetables (p < 0.0001)... The association between fruit intake and weight change was not modified by the fiber content (pooled p 0.16) or GL (pooled p 0.06) of the individual fruit.
Monica L. Bertoia et al. · PLoS Medicine · 2015

Why this rating

Subgroup analysis within large prospective cohorts.

Source

Changes in Intake of Fruits and Vegetables and Weight Change in United States Men and Women Followed for Up to 24 Years: Analysis from Three Prospective Cohort Studies

Monica L. Bertoia et al. · PLoS Medicine · 2015

DOI 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001878

cohort · n=133468Cited 397×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →