Going on a vegetarian diet would be twice as effective for losing weight as doing an omnivorous low-calorie diet, they write lately in all the newspapers , referring to a recent study: but will it be true?
According to the study, eating a diet with 60% carbohydrates, 15% protein and 25% fat (Mediterranean-like breakdown) would work better than eating a diet with 50% carbohydrates, 20% protein and 30% fat. That ten percent more carbohydrates from consuming more fruit and vegetables would make people lose weight without forcing them to count calories.

The study, which involved a sample of 74 diabetic and overweight patients , followed for 6 months, established that half of the sample – who ate more carbohydrates in the form of whole grains, legumes, fruit, vegetables, tubers – lost more weight of those who simply counted calories, maintaining 50% carbohydrates according to the guidelines for diabetic patients.

Now, the only sobering fact is that the sample under observation was precisely of diabetics, and that they lost weight by eating more carbohydrates and not less , contrary to those who think that if you are diabetic you must not eat carbohydrates or you must eat few.
After six months, the vegetarian-eating sample lost twice the weight (6 pounds versus the other group’s 3 pounds) and lost several types of fat (not just subcutaneous, but subcutaneous abdominal and intramuscular fat) than the group who had just cut the calories.
There are two things that don’t come back to me in the studio.
The first:why in six months the group of diabetics who followed a standard low-calorie diet lost only 3 kilos. In reality , both groups followed a low-calorie diet: therefore the vegetarian diet group also reduced calories by 500 per day like the other. However, the weight loss seems to me little in relation to time (six months, with 500 calories less per day for both groups).
The second: muscle loss . According to the graphs of the study, the vegetarian sample lost more weight, but also more muscle , which is not mentioned in the study, but is reflected in the graphs. The loss of muscle is the most significant, while the loss of subcutaneous fat is similar, and so is the loss of abdominal fat. (I think I have read the graphs correctly, but for any objections and corrections on them you can write me on d@dcomedieta.it )

In conclusion…???
– It is not true that a “normal” vegetarian diet causes you to lose more weight than a low calorie omnivorous and more protein diet, since even those who follow a vegetarian diet must reduce calories just like those who follow an omnivorous diet and other studies have underlined the the importance of maintaining a slightly higher protein content in a low-calorie diet.
– Vegetarians or vegans can lose more weight than omnivores by consuming more carbohydrates and less protein: but it is also true that some of that extra weight lost appears to be muscle, and this would perhaps also explain the greater loss of intramuscular fat in the vegetarian group. Athletes who do weights (endurance sports) versus sedentary peoplethey have more intramuscular triglycerides, but they also have more muscle.