"Low-fat vegan diet may spur weight loss", Reuters UK, September 23,
2005,
Link:
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2005-09
-23T152216Z_01_YUE355139_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-DIET-WEIGHTLOSS-DC.XML&archived=False

A diet free of animal products and low in fat may help trim the
waistline without the task of strict calorie watching, a new study
suggests.

Researchers found that of 64 postmenopausal, overweight women, those
assigned to follow a low-fat vegan diet for 14 weeks lost an average of
13 pounds, compared with a weight loss of about 8 pounds among women
who followed a standard low-cholesterol diet.

The weight loss came despite the fact that the women were given no
limits on their portion sizes or daily calories -- and despite the fact
that the vegan diet boosted their carbohydrate intake.

"People imagine carbohydrates to be fattening, but they are not," said
lead study author Dr. Neal D. Barnard, an adjunct associate professor
of medicine at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

He is also president of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine,
a nonprofit group that advocates vegetarianism as part of preventive
medicine.

The greater weight loss among women on the vegan diet may stem from
specific metabolic effects, Barnard told Reuters Health.

He pointed out that the diet improved the women's sensitivity to
insulin, a hormone that ushers sugar from the blood and into cells to
be used for energy. This was also accompanied by an increase in what's
known as the thermic effect of food -- the amount of calories the body
expends to process and store food.

The vegan diet improved women's insulin sensitivity to a greater a
degree than the comparison diet did -- though the difference was not
statistically significant, meaning the finding could be due to chance.

Barnard and his colleagues at George Washington and Georgetown
universities report the findings in the American Journal of Medicine.

Vegan diets eschew all animal products, including dairy and eggs, in
favor of fruits and vegetables, grains, nuts and beans. Although
high-protein weight-loss regimens have painted carbohydrates as the
enemy, a number of studies have found that vegetarians and vegans, who
tend to eat a lot of fiber- and vitamin-rich carbohydrates, are much
less likely to be overweight than meat-eaters.

Women in the current study found the vegan diet easy to follow,
according to Barnard, because they were not asked to count calories or
keep tabs on portion sizes. They were, however, told to avoid added
oils, nuts and seeds to keep their fat intake down.

Women in the comparison group followed a diet based on National
Cholesterol Education Program guidelines, which meant restricting fat
to less than 30 percent of calories and protein to about 15 percent of
calories.

Participants, who ranged in age from 44 to 73, also attended weekly
meetings that included nutrition and cooking lessons.

Based on dietary records the women kept, both groups ended up reducing
their calorie intake by almost 400 calories per day, on average. But
those on the vegan diet lost more weight.

Despite the restrictions of going vegan, Barnard maintained that it's
easy to take on the lifestyle. "Just eat fruits, vegetables, beans and
whole grains," he said. "Everything you're eating is good for you."

It is wise, he noted, to take a multivitamin, particularly to get
enough vitamin B12, which is found naturally only in animal products.

SOURCE: American Journal of Medicine, September 2005.