This article looks at the effect of a vegan diet on health indicators in overweight and obese adults
What’s the deal?
Vegan diets have gained much popularity in recent years owing to the numerous health benefits promised. Is a 4-month vegan diet enough to improve indicators of health in overweight and obese adults?
What did they do?
244 volunteers were recruited to this clinical trial. Half of the participants were instructed to eat a low-fat vegan diet for 4 months, whereas the other half (control group) were told to make no dietary changes.
What happened?
Participants in the vegan diet group lost an average of nearly 6 kg (~13 lbs) over the course of the study, had a 34% decrease in liver fat, a 10% decrease in muscle fat, reduced their disposition to developing type 2 diabetes (reduced predicted insulin resistance) and had an increase in metabolism (how much energy it takes to digest food). These changes did not occur in the control group.
What can you tell me about the people?
Participants were aged 25-75 years old and had a BMI of between 28 to 40 (moderately overweight to obese). The average starting weight was ~93 kg (205 lbs). 87% of participants (211 out of 244) were women.
What else should I know?
The vegan diet includes things like vegetables, grains, legumes and fruits, but importantly does not include animal products. Participants in the vegan diet group attended a weekly class for cooking demonstrations and tips, but were not provided with the meals.
What will I do differently?
There are many reasons for us to reduce our meat consumption. I personally love eating meat, but as time goes on I find myself making slightly fewer meat dishes and feeling more inclined to try the meat-free alternatives. Hopefully it has some positive effect on my health.
Acknowledgements
This research was published in November 2020 by H Kahleova and colleagues from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Washington DC, USA and the George Washington University in Washington DC, USA.
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