Keeping the weight off during the holidays is no easy feat–but researchers say there’s now a way to make it easier.
New findings by University of South Carolina researchers say that people who eat a vegan diet–a diet where no animal-derived products are allowed–lost 16.5 pounds more on average compared to those who ate an animal-based diet.
Better yet, they continued to lose weight–even when they ate a substantial amount of carbohydrates.
“The diet consumed by vegan participants was high in carbohydrates that rate low on the glycemic index,” says Gabrielle Turner-McGrievy, lead author of the study. “We’ve gotten somewhat carb-phobic here in the U.S. when it comes to weight loss. This study might help alleviate the fears of people who enjoy pasta, rice, and other grains but want to lose weight.”
The study, which was published in the International Journal of Applied and Basic Nutritional Sciences, initially examined both vegan and non-vegan diets to see how it affected weight loss, conducted by the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health. Participants in the study were divided into five groups and given one of five diets: A vegan diet, a semi-vegetarian diet, a vegetarian diet which also included seafood, a vegetarian diet that eliminated meat but not animal-based products, or a diet that did not eliminate any animal products. Vegan diets typically do not include food products that come from any animal source, including milk and eggs.
Then, for the next six months, participants continued to follow each assigned diet as researchers continued to monitor their progress. By the end of the six month period, researchers found something astonishing: Those who followed the vegan diet lost 4.3 percent more weight.
That may sound like a small number, but do the math: That means they lost 16.5 more pounds overall.
“I personally was surprised that the pesco-vegetarian group didn’t fare better with weight loss,” says McGrievy, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior at the University of South Carolina. “In the end, their loss was no different than the semi-vegetarian or omnivorous groups.”
As an added bonus, researchers found that the vegan-eating group didn’t just lose weight–they also appeared to eat more nutrients compared to the other dieters, meaning their diet was healthier. Those who ate an animal-based diet fared the worst, however.
“Vegan participants decreased their fat and saturated fat more than did the pesco-vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, and omnivorous groups at both two and six months,” say researchers in the study. “Vegan diets may result in greater weight loss than more modest recommendations.”
What Experts Recommend
So the evidence is clear: Go vegan and you’ll lose more weight. If you too want to slim down in time for the holiday season, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to cut out the meat–it could help you eat healthier as well.
Readers: Have you tried a vegan diet before?
Sources:
Vegan Diet Best For Weight Loss Even With Carbohydrate Consumption, Study Finds – ScienceDaily.com
Comparative Effectiveness of Plant-Based Diets For Weight Loss – NutritionJRNL.com
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