Benefits of Becoming Vegetarian – Overview
You can’t ignore the ongoing craze about the Vegetarian diet when famous names like Serena Williams and Beyonce have joined its elite fan base.
A vegetarian diet has shown great effectiveness in combating health issues like diabetes, obesity, and disease. Still, it’s now taken as the biggest weapon to achieve weight loss goals by numerous people.
Quite recently, a study was conducted by a group of doctors from Harvard University, which confirmed that people on a vegetarian diet tend to lose more weight than their non-vegan counterparts.
While there have been numerous additional types of research in the same context, let us bring you 6 reasons for how a vegetarian diet can help you achieve your weight loss goals effectively.
Benefits of Becoming Vegetarian
1. The High “fibe(r)” impact!
Once you are on a vegetarian diet, you will consume at least 25gm of daily fiber in your daily diet than other people following different diet regimes.
This then leads to better digestion and overall healthy metabolism in the whole process.
Even though you might experience frequent loo breaks, you may never go through various stomach-related issues like constipation, loose motions and else.
Fiber has been quoted as one of the biggest supporting factors for weight loss and once you are on a vegetarian diet, you are blessed with a lot of that.
You will feel filled for longer durations, leading to less calorie intake in the coming hours. Eventually, you will eat less, burn more and efficiently achieve your weight loss goals.
2. Vegetarian diet will make you consume lower saturated fat
According to the world health organization, a normal human being consuming 2000 calories daily must not consume more than 105 calories from saturated fat.
This is mainly because the same fat gives birth to various health issues like obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
During a recent study, it has also been observed that more than 65% of Americans consume more saturated fat than their daily limits.
This is where a vegetarian diet helps you consume more plant-based food and limits your consumption of saturated fats.
Once you get low on saturated fat consumption, there’s every chance that your body will then start to lose weight more quickly.
While you do that, make sure you consume enough healthy fat in your daily diet while on a weight loss regimen.
3. Vegetarian food as your perfect “junk” replacement
Many people think that they have to compromise with their ‘Junk food affair” once on a vegetarian diet.
While it’s true to some extent, you can always bring in healthy replacements for your junk food items.
For example, if your love a burger, you can prepare a healthy burger with a whole wheat bun, fresh veggies, a patty made out of roasted legumes and some homemade sauces.
Well, it isn’t just limited to burgers and there are hundreds of other healthy vegetarian recipes online which can help you bring in all those pizzas and hotdogs into the picture.
We are sure you would love to achieve your weight loss goals this way.
Still, you must not consume all the processed, healthy vegetarian foods available in the markets. They are loaded with all the preservatives and sweeteners, which are more than enough to hamper your weight loss goals.
4. Vegetarian diet is lower in calories than other diets
There’s no argument about the fact that plant-based foods carry lower calories in comparison to all animal-based products.
Once you bring more fresh fruits, veggies, seeds, nuts and grains into your diet, there’s every possibility that your body is well-fed with a lower amount of calories.
The body will also get all the required nutrition from a plant-based diet. So, if you are on a weight loss diet, there’s no better diet plan than a vegetarian diet to cut down on all those extra calories.
Also, while keeping track of your calories in the process, you must not ignore your body’s nutritional requirements. This way, you can stay fit and healthy while shedding those extra pounds.
5. A Vegetarian diet can work as a great energy source
Kyrie Irving is among those athletes who have confirmed that you can stay fit and energetic, even while on a vegetarian diet. This majorly comes when you follow a balanced diet rich in proteins, carbs and all the nutrition required by the body from a vegetarian diet.
Moreover, your body has to work a lot while digesting all the animal-based food products to produce energy. So, once you get along with a perfectly balanced vegetarian diet, you are all set to lose more weight while staying fit at the same time.
Still, you must keep track of the kind of vegetarian food you include in your diet as the body must be fed the right amount of proteins, carbs, healthy fats and fibers during the period. Once you learn the trick of balancing your vegetarian diet according to your energy requirements, you can lose more weight without feeling low on energy.
6. People on a vegetarian diet weigh less than their counterparts
You may not believe the fact, but as per the study conducted by students from Loma Linda University in 2013, people on a vegetarian diet have reached a 4.7% lower BMI than those on non-vegetarian diets.
That can perfectly come because a vegetarian diet contains high fiber and low saturated fat compared to other diet plans.
This helps you consume fewer calories while staying filled for a longer duration, and eventually, you lose more weight than people on other diet plans.
Another aspect that works in the same direction is the rapid burning of calories which is quite frequent in the vegetarian diet due to the high fiber content.
So as you will consume the same calories as those on other diet plans, your body tends to burn more fat and calories in the whole process.
7. Lower risk of heart disease
The vegetarian diet stays low on saturated fat and cholesterol levels as most of the food items in the diet are plant-based. There have been studies and research in place which have shown that vegetarians are 24% less likely to get heart disease than nonvegetarians.
On the other side, famous physician Dr. Dean Ornish has claimed that people on a vegetarian diet have reversed coronary heart disease.
8. Helps in preventing cancer
Some famous doctors have also stated that a vegetarian diet can help you prevent certain types of cancer.
Some observations have proved that vegetarians are less prone to cancer than those who rely on meat.
It has also been said that consuming Red meat and processed meat gives birth to higher chances of colorectal cancer.
Hence, you got all the reasons to include those fresh fruits and veggies in your diet.
9. Helps in achieving your weight loss goals
It has been found that people on a vegetarian diet are low on body mass index than people on a non-vegetarian diet.
As per the studies by the Oxford institute, BMI levels are much lower in both men and women from the vegetarian categories.
This is due to the high fiber content from all the fruits and vegetables you can have in the vegetarian diet.
10. Slowing the aging process
A plant-based Vegetarian diet is highly loaded with all the fiber, vitamins, antioxidants and phytonutrients which can boost your immunity while slowing down the aging process.
Also, the vegetarian diet can prevent certain chronicle diseases, further ensuring a healthier and longer human life span.
This might not be possible with the non-vegetarian diet, and there are studies to confirm the same.
Related Resources:
1300 calorie vegetarian meal plan
Damla Sengul, a seasoned Food Editor at Dietsmealplan.com, boasts a 5-year worth of expertise as a digital editor, with a specific focus on authentic recipe content. Her expertise extends to various crucial aspects of the cookery world, including in-depth research on renowned chefs worldwide and innovative recipe development. Additionally, Damla is an enthusiastic baker who dedicates part of her time crafting delightful celebration cakes for her friends.