A 3-month vegan diet could be key to fighting obesity: study

Got your own little dress to squeeze into by summer?

Kim Kardashian may have claimed that a no-carb-or-sugar diet, intense, twice-daily workouts and regular shifts in the sauna helped her quickly shed 16 pounds so she could squeeze into an iconic, antique gown worn by Marilyn Monroe for Monday’s Met Gala. But a new study shows that simply going vegan for 12 weeks could help some achieve the same result.

Researchers in the Netherlands found that overweight people stand to lose an average of 16 pounds after switching to a plant-based diet for three months.

They attribute the results to a diet that eliminates calorific cheese and red meat. The move also drastically limits snacking and dining-out prospects.

The findings, recently presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Maastricht in the Netherlands, are based on a review of 11 scientific trials to study vegan diets against other diets, which involved 800 adults who were either overweight or had type 2 diabetes.

Those who made the full switch from a typical Western diet to a vegan one lost, on average, 16 pounds. And, compared to those who went on another fad diet, vegans still came out on top, losing an average of 9 pounds.

However, blood sugar levels and cholesterol were not significantly changed from one diet to the next, researchers noted, with vegan diets performing only marginally better in those aspects.

“Vegan diets likely lead to weight loss because they are associated with a reduced calorie intake due to a lower content of fat and higher content of dietary fiber,” said lead author Anne-Ditte Termannsen from Copenhagen University Hospital. “However, more evidence is needed regarding other cardiometabolic outcomes.”

In the US, nearly 74% of adults over age 20 medically qualify as overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Besides diabetes, people with too much fat are more likely to be diagnosed with several types of cancer and cardiovascular disease — as well as suffer from musculoskeletal complications.

Nutritional experts urge patients to seek their doctor’s guidance before overhauling their diet, as those who consume only plant-based foods may risk developing nutrient deficiencies, such as B12, which is predominantly derived from animal-based ingredients. Thus, supplementation may be advised.

Termannsen has said that this work is the “best available evidence” to prove that a vegan diet could be a useful tool for the “management of overweight and type 2 diabetes.”