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- A low-fat vegan diet may help with weight loss by speeding up metabolism and naturally reducing calorie intake, according to a new study.
- Researchers found that diet participants burned 14% more calories after meals, because meals high in carbohydrates and fiber required more energy to digest.
- The diet was also shown to improve insulin sensitivity, lowering the risk of diabetes, as participants lost an average of 13 pounds and a significant amount of body fat.
- Visit the Insider home page for more stories.
A low-fat, high-carb vegan diet could speed up weight loss by increasing the calories you burn after eating, without having to exercise.
Researchers at the Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine and the Yale School of Medicine studied 244 overweight adults during a 16-week diet. Half of the group were randomly assigned to follow a low-fat vegan diet and given cooking tips. The other half were asked to follow their typical diet without any changes. Both groups maintained their exercise habits.
At the end of the study, published Nov. 30 in the JAMA Network Open, the vegan group had lost an average of 13 pounds as well as a significant amount of body fat. The control group did not lose much weight.
The vegan participants also burned 14% more calories, on average, after meals than before changing their diet.
These findings help explain previous studies showing that veganism can be an effective weight loss strategy, according to Dr. Hana Kahleova, director of clinical research for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit that advocates for weight loss. herbal diets, and lead author. of the study.
“We’ve known for so long that a vegan diet helps with weight loss and diabetes, but we haven’t understood the underlying mechanism, why the vegan diet works,” Kahleova told Insider.
Plant foods high in fiber take more energy to digest, which in turn stimulates metabolism
The increased calorie burning from vegan diets occurs for several reasons, according to Kahleova. First, vegan diets tend to be filled with whole grains, legumes, and vegetables. As a result, vegans end up eating a lot of fiber, an important nutrient that helps regulate digestion.
Fiber also takes a lot of energy to digest. When the body works to break down fiber, it generates heat, burning calories. This is called the thermal effect of food.
This could be especially important for the elderly. The average age of participants was 53, a time when many people experience a drop in their metabolism and may have a harder time losing weight as a result.
“People think as they get older and the metabolism slows down, but it shows you can make a difference,” Kahleova said.
You can eat carbohydrates and lose weight
Plant-based foods, especially when not processed, contain a lot of complex carbohydrates, which can also enhance the thermal effect and increase the number of calories you burn while digesting a meal.
Contrary to the popular myth that carbohydrates lead to weight gain, the study diet was 75% carbohydrate, 15% protein, and 10% fat.
The participants still lost weight partly because of the thermal effect, but also because all of those unprocessed plant carbohydrates are naturally low in calories and high in nutrients. Foods high in fat tend to be more calorie dense.
Study participants weren’t asked to limit calories, but they ended up eating an average of 350 calories less each day on a vegan diet.
“Plant-based foods are known to be more filling and less energy dense. This clearly shows that a vegan diet can help people lose weight even without the intention of cutting calories,” Kahleova said.
Participants also had plenty of protein in the diet, the researchers said, and supplemented with vitamin B12, an essential nutrient that can be difficult to obtain from plant-based foods.
Vegan diets can also improve blood sugar
At the end of the study, participants also showed improvements in insulin sensitivity, an important factor in keeping blood sugar levels stable and preventing type 2 diabetes.
This is likely due to the effects of weight loss, according to Kahleova.
“As we gain weight, our bodies respond less and less to insulin, becoming resistant to insulin,” Kahleova said.
Too much body fat, especially visceral fat that builds up around organs, can lead to health problems, including a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.
“The underlying mechanism is the accumulation of fat,” she says. “Think of it as if you were taking a bath. If the tub starts to overflow in the living room, it can do a lot of damage because it is not designed to be water resistant. This is a bit like what happens in our cells.
Previous research has also shown that vegan and vegetarian diets can help improve blood sugar control even without weight loss, suggesting that diets high in fiber and plant-based have additional benefits.
Kahleova said the next step in this research is to see if people with type 1 diabetes might benefit from it as well.
Read more:
65-year-old vegan bodybuilder explains how he builds muscle with hour-long workouts and a veggie diet
Eating High-Protein Meals May Help You Burn Fat More Efficiently, New Study Finds
Vegans have a higher risk of bone fractures if they lack calcium, protein and vitamin B12, study finds
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