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Vegetarian Diet Good for Weight Loss

Sharon Palmer

Research increasingly links vegetarian diets to weight loss. These diets tend to be higher in fiber and lower in fat, which may contribute to weight loss. A new study found that dieters who go vegetarian not only lose weight more effectively than those on conventional low-calorie diets, but also improve their metabolism by reducing muscle fat, according to research published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

Seventy-four subjects with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to follow 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.

Using magnetic resonance imaging, the researchers then studied adipose (fat-storage) tissue in the subjects’ thighs to see how the two different diets had affected subcutaneous, subfascial and intramuscular fat (fat under the skin, on the surface of muscles and inside muscles). 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. This is important as increased subfascial fat in patients with type 2 diabetes has been associated with insulin resistance, so reducing it could have a beneficial effect on glucose metabolism. In addition, reducing intramuscular fat could help improve muscular strength and mobility, particularly in older people with diabetes.

Reference: Hana Kahleova, Marta Klementova, Vit Herynek, Antonin Skoch, Stepan Herynek, Martin Hill, Andrea Mari & Terezie Pelikanova. The Effect of a Vegetarian vs Conventional Hypocaloric Diabetic Diet on Thigh Adipose Tissue Distribution in Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Study, Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 36:5, 364-369, DOI: 10.1080/07315724.2017.1302367. Published by Taylor & Francis.

Main image: Chickpea Tabbouleh, Sharon Palmer, RDN

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