The Diet Logs

A British study that monitored 22,000 people over five years found that vegetarians and vegans gained the least weight over that time.

People who switched from a meat-eating diet to a vegetarian diet also gained less weight. Those who exercised as well did better than those who had little physical activity.

On average, everyone in the study gained about four pounds over the course of five years, but the vegetarians and vegans gained about a pound less than the meat eaters.

For those who don’t know, vegetarians eat no meat but often consume dairy products and eggs. Vegans don’t eat anything that was produced by an animal, including dairy, eggs and honey, and also don’t use products made with animals.

“Contrary to the current popular views that a diet low in carbohydrates and high in proteins keeps weight down, we found that the lowest weight gain came in people with high intake of carbohydrate and low intake of protein,” said research team leader Professor Tim Key of Oxford University.

If you’re trying to lose weight, or even just not gain more weight, think about adopting a vegetarian lifestyle, or even just cutting back on the amount of meat you eat. Add some exercise and you’ll be well on your way to a healthy weight for life.

Sarah White wrote this on March 15th, 2006 and filed it under Diet Logs, Dieting, Healthy Eating, Weight Loss, Working Out |