Healthy Food Diets for Obese Men

Healthy eating isn't only important if you're obese. According to the American Heart Association, a poor diet can increase your chances of developing health complications such as coronary artery disease, diabetes, or high blood pressure. An important part of healthy dieting is making the right choices for your daily meals, because foods that are high in sodium, saturated fat, or sugar all contribute to weight gain and health complications. Making the right choices includes selecting foods that are nutrient-dense and low in calories, and preparing your meals at home rather than dining out.

Low-Carb Diet

• Carbohydrates are an essential nutrient needed for maintaining a consistent level of energy and keeping your metabolism high. Carbohydrates include simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates are found in foods that use refined sugar or white flour, whereas complex carbohydrates are mostly found in whole-grain foods, beans, and vegetables. It is important to eat six to 11 servings of preferably complex carbohydrates daily, as they prevent your body from going into starvation mode and storing food as fat. According to Lucy Beale, Sandy G. Couvillon and Joan Clark, authors of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Healthy Weight Loss," excluding carbohydrates from your diet causes ketosis, a condition that triggers your body to use fat for energy. Although this may seem helpful if you are trying to lose weight, it is not a healthy for your body over the long haul. Your daily meals should contain high amounts of nonstarchy foods such as vegetables and fruit, as well as lean meat such as fish and skinless poultry.

Low-Fat Diet

• A low-fat diet is ideal if you are at risk of developing heart disease or currently have high cholesterol levels. Successfully using this diet program involves cutting out foods that are high in saturated fat such as red meat and poultry with skin, while increasing the consumption of foods that lower your low-density lipoproteins (LDL), lipoproteins that contribute to plaque build-up in your arteries and cause high blood pressure. LDL-lowering foods include oatmeal, whole-grain bread and pasta, walnuts, almonds, fish, vegetables, and vegetable oils, according to the Mayo Clinic. Limit your sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg daily because salty foods can raise your blood pressure and lead to heart disease. Avoid using butter and margarine, replacing them with vegetable oil to cut down on saturated fat. Avoid baked goods such as cookies, cakes, and crackers because they often contain trans fats, also known as partially hydrogenated oil. To lose weight, one-half of your meal plate should consist of nonstarchy vegetables, and the other half should be split between lean meats and starchy foods. This will also help you maintain healthy blood glucose levels and prevent heart disease.

Low-Glycemic Diet

• A low-glycemic diet is one that focuses on eating foods that rank low on the glycemic index (GI), as these foods contain carbohydrates that break down slowly and keep you feeling full for long stretches of time. By eating foods that have a low GI, you can lose weight and manage your blood glucose levels. Foods that are high in carbohydrates, usually those that have simple carbohydrates, provide quick bursts of energy but unfortunately raise your blood glucose levels. These unhealthy foods will satisfy you for a maximum of 3 hours, and you will need to eat again to minimize hunger. This can lead to overeating as well as high blood glucose levels, which can cause health issues such as diabetes. Low GI foods include baked beans, black beans, peas, lentils, kidney beans, crisp breads, whole-grain bread, bran cereal, buttermilk, and fat-free dairy products. Smoked salmon, sashimi, extra-lean ground beef, veal, skinless poultry, and pork tenderloin are also acceptable. Avoid cantaloupe, dates, melons and prunes from the fruits group, and parsnips, rutabagas, turnips and potatoes that are instant, mashed, or baked, according to "Living the G.I. Diet," by Rick Gallop.