Maintaing a Healthy Weight-Benefits of Vegan Diet

by Dr. Deborah Wilson
GoVeg.com/obesity.asp

Obesity is one of the most pressing health problems in the United
States, and it will soon become the country’s leading cause of
preventable death. Despite the growing number of “diets” that are
touted throughout the country, Americans just keep getting fatter. A
government review of all the studies on weight loss found that
two-thirds of dieters gain all the weight back within a year, and a
whopping 97 percent gain it all back within five years. This yo-yo
weight fluctuation is worse than being overweight; 97 percent of
dieters would have been better off if they hadn’t even bothered.

There has not been a single study indicating that high-protein diets
such as Atkins work for more than a year. In fact, two studies showed
that weight loss on the Atkins Diet reversed or stalled after just
six months, and Atkins himself died at 258 pounds. The only
weight-loss plan that has been scientifically proved to take weight
off and keep it off for more than a year is a vegetarian diet. Many
delicious vegan foods are naturally low in fat, so quantity and
calorie restrictions are unnecessary. My colleague Dr. Dean Ornish
calls it the “eat more, weigh less” diet (and even wrote a wonderful
book with that title).

Researchers have found that overweight people consume about the same
number of calories as slim people—but they don’t consume the same
kinds of food. Animal products contain much more fat than plant-based
foods—animal flesh, after all, is designed to store calories, which
makes it one of the worst things that a dieter can eat. Because
vegetarian diets are the only diets that work for long-term weight
loss, it’s no surprise that population studies show that meat-eaters
have three times the obesity rate of vegetarians and nine times the
obesity rate of vegans. It’s possible to be an overweight or obese
vegan, of course, just as it’s possible to be a thin meat-eater, but
adult vegans are, on average, 10 to 20 pounds lighter than adult
meat-eaters.

Adopting a vegan diet won’t just help you slim down, it will also
help you fight an array of ailments, including heart disease,
diabetes, arthritis, and cancer. Dr. T. Colin Campbell of Cornell
University, arguably the foremost epidemiologist in the world,
states, “Quite simply, the more you substitute plant foods for animal
foods, the healthier you are likely to be. I now consider veganism to
be the ideal diet. A vegan diet—particularly one that is low in
fat—will substantially reduce disease risks. Plus, we’ve seen no
disadvantages from veganism. In every respect, vegans appear to enjoy
equal or better health in comparison to both vegetarians and
non-vegetarians.”

It’s never too late to turn over a new leaf—you can lose weight and
take control of your health today by going vegetarian. Check out
these weight loss success stories GoVeg.com/f-veganweightloss.asp
and request a free vegetarian starter kit today!
GoVeg.com

and for more personalized counseling on weight management or transitioning from standard american diet to vegetarian or vegan diet visit BeTotallyHealthy.com/counseling.html