Jacelyn Tay explains why eating salads won't help you lose weight

When the term "diet" is mentioned, it is natural for one to instinctively think of salads.

However, is "rabbit food" really that effective in helping you lose weight? According to former actress Jacelyn Tay, the answer is no.

On Friday (March 5), the 45-year-old took to her Instagram to explain just why salads may even cause you to gain weight.

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She started the post off by busting the myth that simply eating healthy food is enough to lose weight.

According to Jacelyn, if you use the wrong cooking methods or eat your food in the wrong sequence, you may even experience hormonal issues and weight gain.

Case in point: goitrogenic vegetables such as kale, spinach and broccoli contain a chemical that slows down our thyroid glands, which are also responsible for our metabolism, she explained.

"Eating less doesn't help weight loss if your metabolism is already low", she wrote.

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"So many people believe in eating raw salads for weight loss. Then wonder why after skipping rice and eating 'grass' (raw vegetable salads) for some time, you find it hard to lose weight but gain back some instead."

However, there is a solution to this problem, Jacelyn claims — a balanced diet.

"[Your] diet has to be balanced if you want to stay slim in the long run. Any kind of extreme diet gives you short-term weight loss but weight rebound in long term", explained Jacelyn.

While this information may make you want to throw out all your kale, spinach and broccoli at home, you won't need to do that. There are ways you can still consume these without them affecting your metabolism.

By cooking or boiling these greens instead of eating them raw, Jacelyn says that it is safe to eat goitrogenic vegetables.

Some may find it a little odd that a former actress is preaching about diets and health.

Well, in case you didn't know, Jacelyn happens to be a health coach. She is also the founder of Body Inc, a holistic wellness centre.

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In any case, Jacelyn's points do check out. Studies have linked goitrogens in food to dysfunction of the thyroid gland, which produces important metabolic hormones.

According to Healthline, the negative effect of goitrogens is also likely to be more severe in people who already have poor thyroid function. So you might want to avoid goitrogenic vegetables if you have hypothyroid, or an underactive thyroid.

melissateo@asiaone.com