Vegetarianism helps in weight control

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

People who changed their diet towards vegetarianism showed less weight gain that those making no changes.
The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) is looking at dietary factors which have an impact on cancer risk. In a new report from EPIC, researchers from Oxford University studied the eating habits of 22,000 meat eaters, fish eaters, vegetarians and vegans and related it to weight gains over five years.

There was an average gain of two kilos across the group, but the lowest weight gains were seen among those who had altered their diet to one containing fewer animal foods. Among those who did not change their diet, the largest weight gains were seen among meat eaters, the lowest among vegans.

Those who changed their diet from meat to fish, fish to vegetarian, or vegetarian to vegan showed less weight gain than those who did not change their diet. This flies in the face of popular advice on using a low carb high protein approach to weight loss. And the study showed that those who were physically active gained less weight than those who were inactive. In other words, weight is best kept under control with a combination of healthy diet and exercise. And, according to this study, a healthy diet is one which does not emphasise animal protein.

Source
International Journal of Obesity 14th March 2006

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