Vegetarian Diet Has Health & Weight Loss Benefits

Carol Bardelli…A recent study revealed that overweight people who ate a low calorie vegetarian diet, that was also low in carbohydrates, for a mere month lost weight. This test diet was chiefly plant based. Proteins eaten were also made up of plant based foods like beans and legumes.

Not only did subjects lose weight, they experienced improvements in blood cholesterol levels and lowered  other heart disease risk factors like blood pressure. The report was published in the June 8th 2009 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

A separate study group ate a vegetarian diet high in carbohydrates, and low in fat. While this group also lost body weight, they did not receive the cardiovascular benefits the low carbohydrate diet delivered..

While many low carbohydrate diets like The Atkins Diet promote increased meat consumption, some people prefer a lacto ovo vegetarian, vegetarian, vegan way of eating.

Classic low carbohydrate diets have be proven in many studies to result in weight loss. Other studies support low carbohydrate diets as therapeutic in the prevention and treatment of diabetes and heart disease. Always consult your physician or nutritionist before changing your diet.