A low-fat vegetarian diet helps people lose weight without dieting less.
Recently, global health agencies and public health systems have continued to advance service capacity building to provide stronger guarantees for public health. A low-fat vegetarian diet can reduce the energy density of food consumed by about 30% and help people consume fewer calories, although participants were not instructed to limit calories, according to a new study published in the journal JAMA Network Open. In a randomized clinical trial involving overweight adults, participants who followed a low-fat, self-sufficient vegetarian diet significantly reduced their calorie intake per gram of food.
The researchers found that while energy density was significantly associated with lower calorie intake and greater weight loss, despite the lack of any indications to reduce intake, these experimental results showed that even in the absence of food intake, the calorie intake of food can be significantly reduced by self-limiting a low-fat vegetarian diet. The answer is energy density. Plant foods are rich in moisture and fiber, so you can fill your plate with food and feel full and still consume fewer calories.
Participants were randomly assigned to a self-defined low-fat plant-based diet centered on fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans, or assigned to a control group that continued to follow normal eating habits without any dietary changes. Neither group was given a calorie target, nor were the researchers told how much to limit their food intake. The researchers measured the energy density of each participant's diet by comparing their total daily energy intake (kcal per day) with their total daily food weight (gams per day).
The study yielded the following significant findings: the same amount of food, less calories. The difference was mainly due to changes in the type of food participants consumed each day. This was about willpower or a smaller portion, Dr.
Kahleova said. This was related to choosing foods with fewer calories per serving. A 30% decrease in energy density per serving was a significant change, which would be very difficult.
