Losing Weight With A Vegan Diet: Mission Impossible?

Weight loss is one of the star topics in nutrition when it comes to myths, stairwell theories, and magic solutions. It seems that everyone has the solution to a terribly complex question, in which professionals only know two things with certainty: 1st that the approach based only on caloric balance is useless and 2nd that we still have a lot to know.

When we add to this equation that the person who needs to lose weight also has a vegan diet, it is common for them to be told, even by health authorities, that “it is not possible for them to lose weight because their diet has too much carbohydrates ”.

Well, is that true? Let’s first analyze the context.

Can you lose weight by following a vegan diet?

According to that theory, the vegetarian population should have higher rates of overweight and obesity than the general population, right? But the reality is the opposite, vegetarians have on average a lower BMI and less prevalence of obesity than the general population. Wow!

In addition, using the prominent statement above also assumes that the only adequate diets for weight loss are the lowcarb or low in carbohydrates. That is not correct either, but if it were, there is no greater problem to guide a vegan diet not only low- carb , but even ketogenic.

So the phrase not only shows a deep ignorance of the applicable diet therapy in overweight or obesity, but also discovers the little expertise to adapt guidelines to different lifestyles from the traditional one, if the one who pronounces it is a dietician-nutritionist ( Let us remember that he is the only legally accredited professional, together with the Superior Technician in Dietetics, to carry out nutritional interventions or guide diets).

If, in addition, we take the trouble to review what the science says about vegetarian diets and weight loss, what do we find? I will refer only to three recent studies, all from 2015.

The first is a review of RCT’s, that is, of intervention studies, whose evidence is stronger than that of epidemiological ones, and concludes that vegetarian diets seem to have significant benefits in weight reduction compared to non-vegetarian ones.

Another meta-analysis reviews the evidence on changes in body weight of vegetarians and says that the prescription of vegetarian diets has potential value in weight loss recommendations, both in prevention and treatment of overweight.

And finally, a study that analyzes adherence to different types of diets to lose weight, that is, the ability to maintain a type of diet in the long term. The study concludes that the choice of diet does not affect adherence at six months (that is, the vegetarian does not seem to have maintenance difficulties) and that those who followed the vegetarian diet lose more weight.

So, as we see, ensuring that a vegan diet presents more difficulties than a traditional diet when you need to lose weight, it is simply not true.

So what do you do to lose weight on a plant-based diet?

• If you are obese or overweight, go to a dietitian-nutritionist to help you identify the best strategy in your specific case, and to accompany you in the process of changing your habits.
• It doesn’t matter what the best dietary approach is for you: it can be made vegan. If the professional you go to denies it, look for another. The Deontological Code of the profession obliges to respect the lifestyle of each patient, you can remind them.
• Do not fall prey to false promises or magic solutions, if there were magic solutions we would not have rates of overweight and obesity like we do.