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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

#31

Post by yathern »

jackmott wrote: post #16
stcredzero wrote: post #3

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.

I have no horse in this race - but another anecdote is Tom Brady - who recently mentioned how he has a mostly vegetarian diet, except some chicken in the winter. Granted, Quarterbacks don't put on nearly the same muscle mass as other positions - in terms of overall fitness, you can't deny Tom Brady is in very good shape.

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

#32

Post by accountyaccount »

jackmott wrote: post #16
stcredzero wrote: post #3

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.

Throwing another anecdote on the pile:

I've been vegetarian for 2 years and have zero perceptible changes to weight or muscle mass (I don't take supplements either).

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

#33

Post by code_duck »

stcredzero wrote: post #3

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

It seems you're assuming that there would be a difference in that compared to any other diet, and that it has something to do with nutrition and protein. If you check out protein powders in stores, which are made with pure protein isolates and often have their specific amino acid content listed, almost all of them are vegetarian and most are vegan - pea, whey, pumpkin seed, and soy, mostly.

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

#34

Post by coldtea »

Mz wrote: post #24
coldtea wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why though? He didn't say that "Given that ALL/MOST top body builders are vegans", but that "Given that top body builders are vegans". And indeed there are some. Which points that there's no necessary connection between being vegan and losing muscle.

It would be seriously cool, though, if anyone here could leave a link as a citation to any article, tweet, FB page, whatevs that shows even one top body builder who is vegan as back up for the claim.

Because Google is too difficult? (note to self: cut down snark)...

http://www.greatveganathletes.com/bodybuilders

http://pulptastic.com/beef-up-without-beef/

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

#35

Post by MisterBastahrd »

Here's what I've learned about diets over the past 5 years, anecdotally:

Being conscientious about what you eat is the most important part of losing weight. There are plenty of fat vegetarians out there. They've gotten very comfortable with what they can eat because they aren't reading every label anymore.

Oreos are vegan. There are new and improved vegetarian and vegan ice creams coming out weekly, it seems. When there are as many bad food choices for vegetarians and vegans as omnivores, they'll make the same bad food choices and suffer for it.

Why?

When the final word is written on how diets have destroyed the health of people in the Western world, it's gonna be the fat / sugar combo that is shown to be the culprit. It's much easier to be sated if you eat a lot of fats or a lot of sugar (well, starches, really) than eating a lot of fat AND sugar.

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

#36

Post by mrspeaker »

mnm1 wrote: post #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 the…

I laughed out loud when I read that headline... I'm a vegetarian and am sitting here munching on some sickening off-brand potato-chips that I'm pretty sure will kill me if I finish the packet. No animal products though.

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

#37

Post by Mz »

coldtea wrote: post #34
Mz wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be seriously cool, though, if anyone here could leave a link as a citation to any article, tweet, FB page, whatevs that shows even one top body builder who is vegan as back up for the claim.

Because Google is too difficult? (note to self: cut down snark)... http://www.greatveganathletes.com/bodybuilders http://pulptastic.com/beef-up-without-beef/

Google is a thing?

(note to self: quit trying to crack jokes on HN)

;-)

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

#38

Post by jeffdavis »

We have a tendancy to try to isolate variables, like "meat is bad" or "carbs are bad". There are probably multiple diets that work, but not all of the combinations.

I suspect that we have so much choice today that we combine things not meant to be combined in the same diet.

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

#39

Post by com2kid »

tutufan wrote: post #22
FungalRaincloud wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It could well turn out that the common factor here is not consuming a lot of highly refined carbohydrates (sugar, flour, etc.). More importantly, metabolism is just incredibly complicated, with many complex relationships and effects. On top of that, there is significant genetic variation, so these will differ across individuals. For now, we pretty much have to experiment on ourselves and observe what works.

> It could well turn out that the common factor here is not consuming a lot of highly refined carbohydrates (sugar, flour, etc.).

Also monitoring food intake.

I am a huge proponent of ketogenic diets, but I also realize having a diet that completely forbids me from eating all common dessert and snack foods is what contributes in large part to calorie reduction.

Sure, I love all the other benefits from the diet, but part of what works about restrictive diets is that they are so restrictive.

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

#40

Post by rangersanger »

joelrunyon wrote: post #29
mnm1 wrote: post #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 the…

This. An all "oreo" diet, could technically be a vegetarian diet.

Vegan, even.
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