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Eating extra servings of one of these favourites causes the most weight gain over years: study.

Specific foods are associated with long-term weight gain — or weight loss — a major study says.

We’ve heard it before. If you want to lose weight, it comes down to a fairly basic rule: eat less and exercise more. But are there specific foods you should limit or restrict altogether? And how much do exercise and other lifestyle factors really matter when it comes to preventing long-term weight gain?

A recent Harvard study looked at the effect of diet, physical activity and other behaviors on weight gain or loss over a period of several decades. For the study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers followed 120,000 men and women who were considered healthy and non-obese.

Not surprisingly, more people put on weight than lost it over the duration of the study. The average participant gained 3.35 pounds over every four-year period, or more than 16 pounds over two decades.

Read more: Best — and worst — foods for your waistline

Restaurants across Canada are taking a bite out of the competition by doling out free breakfast.

By 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, the breakfast sandwich assembly line at the Subway restaurant on Granville St. in downtown Vancouver was in overdrive—English muffin, pre-cooked egg, sliced ham and cheese, then into the oven. Brush away crumbs. Repeat. Despite the frantic pace, the lineup spilled out the door and down the street, drawn by that siren call of the tired and hungry morning consumer—a free breakfast and coffee.

There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but when it comes to breakfast, fast-food chains are doling out meals and coffee to anyone who’ll take them. Last November, Burger King Canada gave away free coffees every Friday, having earlier handed out complimentary breakfast sandwiches. Subway’s one-day breakfast and coffee giveaway was its second in 10 months. Meanwhile, McDonald’s has blitzed the morning crowd with free coffees five times since 2009, with each event lasting between one to two weeks.

The goal is invariably the same each time—to get as many new people as possible to try their offerings with the hope that some moochers come back for more as paying regulars.

Read more: Free food fight

Stock up on these everyday foods to suppress appetite and trim belly fat.

Hold this thought: To lose weight effectively and permanently, you need to eat.And eat smart. Happily, nature designed a lot of delicious edibles to turn up your fat-burning furnace, flatten your belly, and take a big bite out of your appetite. Here are 11 of the get-slim food gems we’re talking about.

Read more: 11 Foods for Faster, Easier Weight Loss

While healthier items are now offered alongside traditional fare, they can be pricey.

The secrets aren’t only in the sauce.

1. We have healthy options, but they’ll cost you more.

After years of serving 1,000-calorie meals, most fast-food chains have started to offer healthier options salads, fruit cups and other un-fried options. But if you reach for the lower-cal options, be prepared for some sticker shock. On average, the salad with chicken at a fast-food restaurant tends to be the most expensive option on the menu ($4.85 on average) and costs $1.90 more than a large burger, according to a study published in December 2010 by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. And the healthy chicken sandwich costs $3.73 on average, about 26% more than a large “red-meat sandwich.

This pricing, in addition to the heavy marketing of unhealthy food options, undercuts what the fast food industry says is its commitment to healthy options, says Jennifer Harris, a spokesperson for the center. People typically look to get as much food for the price, which makes the healthy options look less appealing, she adds. But Sue Hensley, a spokesperson for the National Restaurant Association, says that the industry has plenty of affordable healthy options and that fast-food restaurants are “offering more nutritious children’s opt

Read more: Things Fast-Food Companies Won’t Say

A new symbol will be unveiled on June 2 in an effort to fight the nation’s obesity epidemic.

A two-decade old icon of healthy eating–the food pyramid—is now ancient history. In what the US Department of Agriculture calls a “monumental effort” to improve the nation’s diet amid the obesity epidemic, the government has dished up a new plate-shaped graphic, to debut on June 2 with massive fanfare from the Obama administration.

The new symbol, which will be accompanied by a new website, reportedly cost $2 million to develop. You’ll see the plate everywhere—restaurants, grocery stores, schools, workplaces and online— since the government hopes it will soon become as familiar as the pyramid, recognized by more than 80 percent of Americans. The White House will spearhead the launch of the icon, aimed at boosting awareness of new federal dietary guidelines issued in January. The easy-to-understand graphic augments Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move anti-obesity initiative.

Read more: USDA Food Pyramid is Out, Food Plate is In

Many avoid this high-fat fruit, but it helps cut pounds 30 per cent more when eaten right.

People ask me all the time if there is a magic supplement they can take to look younger, shed body fat, boost their energy or improve their skin. In reality, the answer is food. The right food, at the right time and in the right quantities, can have a dramatic affect on your appearance and overall health.

Here are a few superfood suggestions to include in your spring diet – they just might help to slim your waistline in time for summer:

Avocados: Avocados contain glutathione, one of the most potent antioxidants and disease-fighting agents available. Unfortunately, avocados – high in monounsaturated fats – got a bad rap during the past low-fat era. But avoiding avocados will only work to impede your weight loss, depriving you of a source of healthy fats and antioxidants that are good for any complexion.

Read more: Six best fat-burning superfoods

Start your day off on the right foot by avoiding these common, yet unhealthy breakfast options.

Whether you’re working out to build muscle, get definition, train for a marathon, lose weight, or because you’re just health conscious, you should be well aware of what you’re putting into your body on a daily basis and just how important that first meal of the day is. If, however, you’re like a lot of men and don’t really think about it (perhaps because you never seem to put on weight or believe that a little bit of this here and there won’t make a difference), then your breakfast food choices may not be so considered. If so, they can do a lot more than affect your overall fitness, having far-reaching effects on things such as your cholesterol, heart health, sex drive, and attention span. We’ve chosen five of the worst breakfast foods you can eat.

Cereal
It might seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people (grown-ups included) reach for a sugary cereal box every morning. It’s convenient, quick, and if you opt for one of the ones that aren’t coated in sugar, you probably think they’re pretty good for you, right? Wrong. It might seem a controversial choice on this list of worst breakfast foods, but plenty of regular cereals are actually packed with sugar and, thus, warrant a place here for the simple fact that you’re getting a dose of something you aren’t fully aware of.

Read more: Worst Breakfast Foods

You’ll be surprised to learn how the coffee chain’s menu compares with the other fast-food giant.

It’s still fast food, any way you cut it

Their bread is artisan, their salads have cranberries but is the food at Starbucks any better for you than McDonald’s fare? The coffee giant just pulled up behind the golden arches to become the number three fast food chain in America. Part of their success is being credited to healthier menu options than the standard drive-through meal. In the case of their carrot sticks and hummus platter, this may be true, but some of their staple grab-and-go menu options are deceptively high in calories and fat. We compared the nutritional values of some of their lunch fare with corresponding offerings at McDonald’s. You’ll be surprised at how the numbers stack up.

Read more: Is Starbucks any healthier than McDonald’s?

Figs have more minerals than almost any other fruit — plus plenty of fiber.

I’m the first to admit that the term “superfood” gets thrown around a lot in media and marketing, but that doesn’t mean we should turn our backs on the bursting-with-nourishment, lovely, potent, and delicious foods that fall under the moniker. Especially when these foods are known to lower cholesterol, reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer, and, while we’re at it, put you in a better mood.

Although some people have run rampant with the term and have made a mint by promoting the “miraculous! fountain-of-youth! death-defying!” benefits of superfoods, I hope that there won’t be a backlash against good, old-fashioned, super nutrient-exuberant food.

As I’ve said before, I’m a crusader for most edibles in their pure forms — and the majority of them are superfoods in my book. There are few whole foods from the plant world that don’t have some health-boosting element to brag about — so how to decide what to eat?

Read more: Top 10 superfoods for spring

Sipping this up to six hours after a meal could spike blood sugar a whopping 65 per cent: study.

Everyone gets a craving for a fast-food fix once in a while, but a new study shows you shouldn’t follow up that meal with a coffee because doing so can result in a spike in blood sugar similar to levels in pre-diabetics.

The study, conducted by doctorate student Marie-Soleil Beaudoin at the University of Guelph, found drinking caffeinated coffee six hours after eating fast food high in fat resulted in blood sugar levels increasing by 65 per cent. A healthy person’s blood sugar levels normally spike after eating a fast-food meal, but drinking two large cups of coffee hours later doubles the effect.

Read more: Fast food and coffee make for a dangerous health combination