The Best Way to Lose Weight. Proven!

Which weight loss diet is really the safest and most effective? Research has shown that, for real sustainable, long term weight loss (Obesity 2007;15:2276-81) and for health and safety (J Am Diet Assoc 2007;107:1701), vegetarian diets are the best.

Now a new study has not only proven it, it has given additional insight into why. . . .

This study put 74 type 2 diabetics on either the conventional antidiabetic diet or a vegetarian diet. The vegetarian diet included fruit, vegetables, grains, legumes and nuts. It limited animal products to no more than one portion of low-fat yoghurt a day. Both the diabetes diet and the vegetarian diet restricted calorie intake.

Which was more effective, the vegetarian diet or the low-calorie diabetic diet? It wasn’t even close. The vegetarian diet was nearly twice as effective: people on the low-calorie diet lost 3.2kg (7.05 pounds), but the people on the vegetarian diet lost 6.2kg (13.28 pounds) in 6 months.

But the researchers dug deeper. They used MRIs to see where the fat was disappearing from. They looked at adipose tissue (fat storage) in the thighs and found that both diets affected subcutaneous fat (fat under the skin) the same. But the vegetarian diet led to greater reduction of intramuscular fat (fat inside the muscle), and only the vegetarian diet reduced subfascial fat (fat on the surface of muscle).

This information is interesting and important because losing muscle fat actually improves metabolism. Subfascial fat on the muscles is associated with insulin resistance. So, losing it could improve insulin resistance and help glucose metabolism. And losing fat in the muscles (intramuscular) could benefit muscle strength and mobility.

The lead researcher concluded, “Vegetarian diets proved to be the most effective diets for weight loss. However, we also showed that a vegetarian diet is much more effective at reducing muscle fat, thus improving metabolism. This finding is important for people who are trying to lose weight, including those suffering from metabolic syndrome and/or type 2 diabetes. But it is also relevant to anyone who takes their weight management seriously and wants to stay lean and healthy.”

Am J Coll Nutr 2017;doi:10.1080/07315724.2017.1302367

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