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Home » Diet » Vegan diet may let you lose a few pounds – The Macomb Daily

For those hoping to shed cold-weather weight gain, research suggests that going vegetarian or even vegan can help.

When scientists looked at the body mass index of more than 37,000 Britons of all ages in 2003, they found that while the average male meat-eater had BMI of about 24.4, just shy of overweight, the average vegan had BMI of 22.4. Among women, the patterns were similar. A 2009 study of Seventh-day Adventists in North America showed an even greater difference in BMI: more than five points between those on an omnivorous diet (28.8) and those eating only plant-based foods (23.6).

You could attribute such findings to lifestyle differences between vegans and meat-lovers. People on plant-based diets tend to be more health-oriented than others: Vegans drink less, smoke less and tend to exercise more.

Yet experiments randomly assigning people to different diets suggest vegetarianism helps in dropping extra pounds, regardless of philosophy or attitude toward treadmills. Most were done on small samples, however, some as few as 16 people.

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The randomized controlled trials were not very conclusive. But when you do a meta-analysis you can look at the evidence base as a whole and really understand whats going on, says Wendy Bennett, a professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

A meta-analysis of 12 trials involving well over 1,000 adults found last year that people on vegetarian diets lost an average 4.4 pounds more than those following other nutritional plans. Those who ate exclusively plant-based foods a vegan diet slimmed down the most, 5.5 pounds on average.

Studies have shown that vegetarian diets lower the risk of diabetes, heart disease, even cancer.

Why would plant-based diets be better at keeping us slender than other weight-loss regimens, such as the low-carb Atkins diet?

Nothing is as important, in my opinion, as energy density and the fiber content of such diets, says Jim Mann, a professor of nutrition at the University of Otago in New Zealand. A strict vegetarian has to eat a mountain of food in order to have enough calories. Experiments focusing on fiber noted that nutrients propensity for keeping people thinner.

There are two different types of fiber insoluble fiber and soluble fiber, says University of South Carolina nutritionist Brie Turner-McGrievy. Insoluble fiber is just bulk, so it physically fills you up, whereas soluble fiber has low glycemic index, so it doesnt spike your blood sugar really high. Its digested slowly, and so ... it keeps you satiated.

On the other hand, compared with what many American typically eat, vegan diets arent loaded with protein, which is often touted as a great aid in weight loss because it can help you feel full longer.

According to Mann, protein has little long-term significance in shedding extra pounds and keeping them off. In experiments, high-protein diets do help with faster weight loss and keeping appetite under control, but these effects tend to disappear after a year.

In high-protein diets, Turner-McGrievy says, you are depleting your glycogen stores and the water that goes along with them, so you are going to lose a lot of weight. For some, thats very motivating but thats not really body fat you are losing. Vegetarian diets contain adequate carbohydrate, so they wouldnt produce the glycogen and water loss.

Mann cautions against obsessing with mechanisms by which veggie diets might help you lose weight.

Its very important not to try to identify just one factor, he says. Because then people ... will just take a fiber pill. Its a great risk to oversimplify nutrition.

The most important thing in a diet is sticking to it. The idea of going meatless may be off-putting to those who havent tried it.

We usually tell people to try the vegetarian diet for three weeks. Its less scary that way ... but that gives you a chance to try it out and get your taste buds adjusted, Turner says.

New, familiar-looking products can help the switch. There is vegan cheese, Hellmanns vegan mayo, vegan Ben & Jerrys ice cream, vegan pizza and vegetarian burgers.

Its worth noting they may not all be good for you, though.

There is a fine line between having enough choices versus making food that was once an unhealthy animal-based food into a similarly unhealthy plant-based version, Turner-McGrievy says.

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Vegan diet may let you lose a few pounds - The Macomb Daily

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Home » Diet » Vegan diet may let you lose a few pounds – The Macomb Daily