Are Pickles Good For Weight Loss? Know The Unknown Facts!

What’s your take on pickles? Love them or hate them? As they say, there is no in-between when it comes to pickles. Pickles easily make or break a dish, depending on its ingredients, whether or not it complements the dish, and most importantly, the taste of the person who eats it.

Either way, the one thing you can’t deny about them is their health benefits. It has many, including its weight loss properties. However, it’s not a condiment without drawbacks. Pickles definitely have some cons, especially if one overconsumes them. Let’s get into more details. Read ahead!  

Understanding pickles

Everybody knows what a pickle is. Pickles are usually made by immersing cut vegetables in highly concentrated salt water, vinegar, or both. Pickles are of many different types. There are dill pickles made by, well obviously, dill, salt water, and vinegar; full sour pickles that do not use vinegar but are solely made using salt water, creating a fermented solution with high lactic acid content; and Gherkin pickles made of small, bumpy, whole cucumbers. Check out the list below to learn about a few more pickles that you might find interesting.  

• Kosher pickles: Although it has ‘kosher’ in its name, it does not necessarily always go with the Jewish dietary restrictions that make it kosher. The flaky salt used in this pickle is not as salty as the normal grainy salt. Kosher pickles might seem similar to dill pickles in appearance. However, instead of dill, kosher pickles add garlic cloves to add to its taste. 
• Cornichons: Cornichons are French-style pickles made with cucumbers smaller than gherkins. They are usually two inches or less in size but are more acidic in nature. Cornichons are the kind of pickles that are usually used to garnish cocktails.  
• Bread & butter pickles: Bread & butter pickles have a comparatively longer list of ingredients. This kind of pickle usually includes onion, bell peppers, celery, mustard, and coriander besides the pickled vegetable, salt, and vinegar. The vegetables in the bread & butter pickle are usually cut in chip size and are used as fillers in burgers and sandwiches.
• Sweet pickles: Sweet pickles are similar to bread & butter pickles. Although characterized by limited sugar content, it is not as sweet as candied pickles which are sugary. You can either snack on them or can be added to hit dogs, sandwiches, or burgers. 

Nutritional profile about pickles

The nutritional profile of pickles usually depends on their compositions, what kind of pickle is it, and what are its ingredients. If you mean to consume them for their health benefits, avoid candied pickles and sweet pickles since they contain added sugar. Now about the rest of them, most of those contain Vitamins like A, K, and C, and minerals like calcium, sodium, and potassium.   

Take a look at this table with the nutritional profile of one spear of dill pickle.

Calories	5kcal
Sodium	318mg
Carbohydrate	0.8g
Fat	<1g
Fiber	0.3g
Protein	0.2g
Vitamin K	5.6% to 9% DV

Are pickles good for weight loss?

As you have learned just now, pickles are packed with nutrients. But does that help with weight loss? Even if it does, will consuming pickles alone or with high-calorie dishes have any impact on weight gain? The answer is yes. While consuming pickles alone can improve your gut health and digestion and can aid weight loss to an extent, consuming them with high-calorie food items tends to increase weight, not because of anything the pickle contains but because it doesn’t cancel out the calorie content of the food you eat. 

Pickles can aid weight loss in the following ways

• Snacking: Pickles are low in calories. A spear of dill pickle contains only 4 to 5kcal and except for sweet and candied pickles, the calorie content of the other kinds of pickles is almost the same. Snacking on pickles will help reduce cravings, consequently leading to lower calorie intake.  
• Vinegar: Vinegar has many health benefits besides weight loss. Acetic acid promotes a feeling of fullness while improving metabolism, which burns more than usual calories. Vinegar also supports gut health, creating a balanced gut microflora with the probiotic content it creates in the pickle. For those incorporating the Sync weight loss supplement into their routine, combining it with low-calorie snacks like pickles can enhance weight loss efforts.

Although pickles might seem like a good option to add to your weight loss routine with their vinegar, probiotic, and vegetable content, one thing that could adversely affect the whole process is the sodium it contains. Except for the two kinds of pickles high in sugar, all the others contain a very high amount of sodium, which if consumed in excess, could actually make you gain weight. Sodium retains water in the body, which adds water weight. It also induces cravings which will make you eat more than needed, leading to increased calorie intake.     

Incorporating pickles in a weight loss diet

Since pickles are low in calories, it would be a good idea to add to your weight loss diet, but in limited quantities. If you stick to the recommended serving size, you can even have them every day without health risks or weight gain. Apart from aiding weight loss, pickles also help reduce cholesterol levels, improve digestion, and support immune system functions. 

If you want to lose weight by eating pickles, make sure to follow some of the serving tips listed below. 

• Use a low-sodium, low-fat variety of pickles
• Avoid sweetened pickle varieties like candied and sweet pickles
• Add to different condiments in limited quantities
• Combine them with low-calorie dishes like salads
• For burgers and sandwiches, replace toppings with high-fat content like mayo, with pickles  

Health risks of eating pickles

The major health risk of pickles is associated with sodium. 

• High blood pressure: Pickles are not good for individuals with high blood pressure. The high salt content of the pickles directly contributes to an increased risk of hypotension, which might even lead to cardiovascular conditions.
• Osteoporosis: Osteoporosis is a condition that occurs due to the loss of calcium from the bones. High sodium in the body leaches off calcium from teeth and bones, resulting in weak bones prone to easy breakage or deformity.
• Kidney stress: Eating too many pickles puts stress on the kidneys as well as the liver. It makes them overwork and change their normal functioning, leading to easy damage.
• Gastric cancer: Although this is not a common condition, overconsumption of pickles increases the risk of gastric cancer. Having high-sodium food every day could damage the intestinal walls, lead to ulcers, and eventually lead to the growth of cancerous cells. 

Conclusion

Pickles are of not one but many kinds. There are sweet pickles, dill pickles, gherkin pickles, bread & butter pickles, candied pickles, kosher pickles, cornichons and so many more. Different kinds of pickles appeal to the varying tastes of different individuals, depending on their tolerance to each flavor.

Pickles have several health benefits including balancing gut bacteria, aiding digestion, and the one we talked about, weight loss. As a low-calorie condiment, it is a great addition to your calorie-deficit diet, if consumed in moderation. The vinegar content in pickles boosts metabolism and promotes accelerated fat burn. 

Pickles, sodium to be specific, have a few drawbacks including kidney and liver stress, high blood pressure, and an increased risk of osteoporosis and potential gastric cancer. Most of these can be prevented if you stick with a reasonable serving size and do not binge on them. If it’s weight loss that you target, always make sure to go for a low-sodium, low-fat variety pickle with zero calories, and consume it in moderation. We don’t want to put our health at stake now, do we?       

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