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Vegetarian Diets May Be More Effective for Weight Loss Than Restricting Calories

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Re: Vegetarian Diets May Be More Effective for Weight Loss Than Restricting Calories

#12
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gonna need a source on that.

I somehow doubt you'll get one. A quick Google search suggests they exist, but they're hardly a large portion of the overall bodybuilding community.

Oh I know, I just wanted him to answer that. :)

Re: Vegetarian Diets May Be More Effective for Weight Loss Than Restricting Calories

#13

Does anyone who has studied this in depth know: How much of the lost weight is muscle mass?

More in the vegetarian diet, FTS: "The greater weight loss in V was accompanied by greater muscle loss in V (−5.0 cm2 [95% CI, −5.7 to −4.3] in V vs −1.7 cm2 [95% CI, −2.4 to −1.0] in C; Gxt p I will have been vegan for 10 years next Jan. Haven't had any problems with retaining muscle mass personally, although I have a pretty high protein diet and supplement with vegan vitamins. I do cardio a handful of times a week, and lift weights periodically. Sample size N=1 :)

Re: Vegetarian Diets May Be More Effective for Weight Loss Than Restricting Calories

#14
post #9

I have been on a whole food no oil starch based vegan diet eating mostly potatoes and some other veggies with no fat for 5 months. I have lost 43 pounds eating as much as I wanted. I have done only a little exercise walking a little more but nothing crazy. I feel like I am 21 again though I turned 41 this weekend. The Starch Solution by John A. McDougall is a great book. Also this video that just came out has a bunch…

Counterpoint here: I went on a ketogenic, high fat, medium protein, low carb diet this past year, and managed to lose roughly the same amount in probably the same amount of time (if not less), doing basically the same thing. I ate what I wanted. I got full a lot faster, though. I also felt like I had more energy and suffered less brain fog while on the diet. I'll likely go back on it pretty soon here.

Re: Vegetarian Diets May Be More Effective for Weight Loss Than Restricting Calories

#16

Does anyone who has studied this in depth know: How much of the lost weight is muscle mass?

The whole idea that eating vegetarian will lead to a less muscular physique is just completely unfounded. There are elite athletes that are vegetarians who make no special effort to get protein. (citation: my wife was one). My build didn't change when going vegetarian. It just isn't a thing.

it isn't a magic pill for weight loss either.

Re: Vegetarian Diets May Be More Effective for Weight Loss Than Restricting Calories

#17
post #4

Does anyone who has studied this in depth know: How much of the lost weight is muscle mass?

Given that top body builders are vegans, I'd guess - not much

The world's top body builders are certainly not vegan across the board...for example the actor/competing body builder who plays The Mountain on Game of Thrones consumes almost 2000 grams of animal fat daily[0].

Also no one should emulate top body builder diets unless they plan on working out like top body builders (e.g. 2-3 intensive training sessions a day).

You might be able to find a few vegan body builders but its certainly not the norm.

0: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-mountain-game-of-thrones-...

Re: Vegetarian Diets May Be More Effective for Weight Loss Than Restricting Calories

#18
post #9

I have been on a whole food no oil starch based vegan diet eating mostly potatoes and some other veggies with no fat for 5 months. I have lost 43 pounds eating as much as I wanted. I have done only a little exercise walking a little more but nothing crazy. I feel like I am 21 again though I turned 41 this weekend. The Starch Solution by John A. McDougall is a great book. Also this video that just came out has a bunch…

Counterpoint here: I went on a ketogenic, high fat, medium protein, low carb diet this past year, and managed to lose roughly the same amount in probably the same amount of time (if not less), doing basically the same thing. I ate what I wanted. I got full a lot faster, though. I also felt like I had more energy and suffered less brain fog while on the diet. I'll likely go back on it pretty soon here.

You can lose weight on it but you are really tricking your body into starvation. Also it does nothing to help with our number one killer in the US, heart disease. It really isn't healthy for you and most people gain all the weight back. Here is a good video on it as well. He does a way better job at explaining it with links to all the sources he brings up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzHLAqyO7PQ

Re: Vegetarian Diets May Be More Effective for Weight Loss Than Restricting Calories

#19
Maybe the specific vegetarian diet used here leads to that conclusion, but extrapolating it to all vegetarian diets or vegetarian diets in general is not science and it's not a conclusion they can make. I wish it was true, but experience, common sense, and actual science tells otherwise. So the headline should be "Some Vegetarian Diets May Be More Effective for Weight Loss Than Some Non-Vegetarian Diets." Because there's plenty of counter examples otherwise. Well, no shit. The corollary is also true: "Some Non-Vegetarian Diets May Be More Effective for Weight Loss Than Some Vegetarian Diets."
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