You really should be eating your vegetables. A new study shows vegetarians lose weight more effectively and improve their metabolism by reducing muscle fat compared to low-calorie dieters.
The study -- of 74 people with type 2 diabetes, randomly selected to follow a vegetarian diet or a conventional anti-diabetic diet -- found the vegetarian diet was nearly twice as effective at reducing body weight with an average weight loss of 14 pounds compared to 7 pounds on the conventional diet.
Participants on the vegetarian diet ate mostly vegetables, grains, legumes, fruits and nuts with animal products limited to one low-fat yogurt per day.
The conventional diet followed recommendations from the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, or EASD.