Scientists from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine found a vegan diet improves diet quality, leading to decreased weight and improved insulin sensitivity.
Decreased weight was most linked to increased intake of legumes and decreased intake of meat, fish, and poultry.
The research is published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and was conducted by Hana Kahleova et al.
In the study, the team tested 219 overweight adults who were assigned to either make no diet changes or to follow a low-fat vegan diet for 16 weeks, without calorie restrictions, consisting of vegetables, grains, legumes, and fruits.
Researchers tracked diet quality, body weight, fat mass, and insulin sensitivity.
They found participants on the vegan diet lost an average of 13 pounds and 9.1 pounds of fat mass. Body weight and fat mass did not decrease in the group that made no diet changes.
In the vegan group, increases in fruit, legume, meat alternative, and whole-grain intake and decreases in animal products, added oils, and animal fats were associated with weight loss:
Fruit: Increased intake of whole fruit was associated with a decrease in body weight.
Legumes and Meat Alternatives: Increased legume consumption was associated with decreased weight, fat mass, and visceral adipose tissue. Consuming more meat alternatives, including tofu, tempeh, and veggie burgers, was associated with a decrease in body weight.
Grains: Increased consumption of whole grains was associated with decreased body weight and fat mass.
Eggs and Dairy Products: Decreased egg intake was correlated with decreased weight. Decreased high-fat dairy intake was associated with decreased weight and fat mass.
Meat, Fish, and Poultry: Reductions in the combined intake of total meat, fish, and poultry were associated with weight loss and a decrease in fat mass.
Added Fats: Decreases in intake of added animal fats were associated with decreases in weight and fat mass. Decreased intake of added oils also correlated with decreases in weight and fat mass.
The vegan group also experienced improvements in insulin sensitivity.
The vegan group’s diet quality also increased in contrast to no significant change in the group that did not make a diet change.
The research shows that the best way to improve the quality of health is to improve the quality of the foods you eat.
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