Photo: Nilo Velez via WordPress Photo Directory, public domain.
A vegan diet beat the control diet for weight loss in a 16-week randomised trial: the vegan group lost 6.5 kg more body weight and 4.3 kg more fat than the control group, and their insulin resistance improved.
Researchers from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington DC, led by Dr. Hana Kahleova, randomised 75 overweight adults to a plant-based vegan diet (38 people) or a control diet (37). Body fat was measured by DEXA scan. The trial is published in Nutrition & Diabetes, an independent Springer Nature journal.
Fat loss tracked with eating more plant protein and less animal protein, and with lower intake of the amino acids leucine and histidine. The authors write:
The plant-based vegan diet proved to be superior to the control diet in improving body weight, fat mass, and insulin resistance markers.
For anyone wanting to lean out, swapping animal protein for beans, lentils, tofu and whole grains looks like a winning move.
It follows a meta-analysis showing vegetarian diets lower blood sugar, cholesterol and weight in people with diabetes, and research showing plant protein is great for building muscle too.
Lose the fat, keep the plants!