Vegetarian diet effective for weight loss

Eating vegetables to lose weight is more effectively than conventional low-calorie foods, vegetables improve body metabolism by reducing muscle fat.

Seventy-four participants with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to eat either a vegetarian diet or a conventional anti-diabetic diet. The vegetarian diet consisted of vegetables, grains, legumes, fruits and nuts, with animal products limited to a maximum of one portion of low-fat yoghurt per day.

The conventional diabetic diet followed the official recommendations of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD). Both diets were restricted by 500 kilocalories per day compared to an isocaloric intake for each individual.

The vegetarian diet was found to be almost twice as effective in reducing body weight, resulting in an average loss of 6.2kg compared to 3.2kg for the conventional diet.

They found that both diets caused a similar reduction in subcutaneous fat. However, subfascial fat was only reduced in response to the vegetarian diet, and intramuscular fat was more greatly reduced by the vegetarian diet.

Vegetarian diets proved to be the most effective diets for weight management. However, it also showed that a vegetarian diet is much more effective at reducing muscle fat, thus improving metabolism.


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