Best weight loss diet
Vegan diet offers double weight loss benefits
Being overweight increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and other diseases. This study adds to the large body of evidence showing how a vegan diet can help you lose weight. They found that a low-fat, plant-based diet helps not only by reducing the amount of energy (calories) you eat but also by increasing how fast your body burns that energy after you have eaten (postprandial metabolism). This, they say, helps reduce fat levels in your liver and muscle cells and so improves insulin sensitivity and lowers the risk of diabetes.
Kahleova H, Petersen KF, Shulman GI et al. 2020. Effect of a low-fat vegan diet on body weight, insulin sensitivity, postprandial metabolism, and intramyocellular and hepatocellular lipid levels in overweight adults: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open. 3 (11) e2025454.
About the author
Dr. Justine Butler
Justine joined Viva! in 2005 after graduating from Bristol University with a PhD in molecular biology. After working as a campaigner, then researcher and writer, she is now Viva!’s head of research and her work focuses on animals, the environment and health. Justine’s scientific training helps her research and write both in-depth scientific reports, such as White Lies and the Meat Report, as well as easy-to-read factsheets and myth-busting articles for consumer magazines and updates on the latest research. Justine also recently wrote the Vegan for the Planet guide for Viva!’s Vegan Now campaign.
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