Well weight loss can be achieved through a combination of diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes, It cannot just happen with one particular thing says the best dietician “Prachi Shah”. Weight loss is achieved with overall lifestyle modifications by focusing on clean and balanced eating, gut, and mental health, and emphasizing workouts by making overall a lifestyle modification which is the most sustainable way to lose weight.
Nowadays weight loss has become everyone’s priority but nobody understands the depth of it. It is not magic that can happen overnight, it needs to have discipline and dedication. This discipline and dedication come through lifestyle modifications.
Food plays an important role in the weight loss journey, by this it means getting into a calorie deficit and focusing on balance and clean eating to increase immunity by getting much healthier and fitter. A balanced and clean eating is achieved by replacing simple carbohydrates with complex ones, including good fats and lean proteins. Good fats and lean proteins are mainly seen in plant-based diets which are vegan and vegetarian diets. Now what is a vegan diet? Let us understand more in detail.
Well, a vegan diet is a completely plant-based diet that excludes all animal products and by-products. This means vegans do not consume: Meat (including poultry and fish), Dairy products (such as milk, cheese, butter, and yogurt) , Eggs, Honey, Gelatin and other animal-derived ingredients Instead,
Plant-Based Protein: Seitan, tempeh, edamame, and plant-based meat alternatives.
Many studies have proven that please following a vegan diet tends to have a normal range of BMI and lean body mass as a vegan diet is low in fat and high in fiber hence it can give great results in achieving the weight loss plateau.
A well-planned vegan diet can provide all the necessary nutrients for good health, although some nutrients, such as vitamin B12, vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, iron, calcium, and zinc, may require attention or supplementation.
People who are fitness enthusiasts who take protein supplements post their workouts can switch to plant protein supplements instead of whey protein. As plant protein is easy on digestion and will not cause unnecessary bloating and inflammation.
Vegan Sources of Probiotics Include:
Sauerkraut, Tempeh, Sourdough, Dairy-free yogurts and Pickles.
A pure vegetarian diet includes most of plant based foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds, plant based oils and few of animal products like dairy which includes milk, curd, buttermilk, paneer, and ghee.
Dairy contains essential nutrients like calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, protein etc. Since dairy contains saturated fats hence it has to be consumed in moderation. One can choose wise options and opt for low fat dairy options like cow milk instead of buffalo milk as it has better nutrient aspects and low in saturated fats.
Vegetarian diet contains good amount of probiotics which are beneficial for the healthy gut balance.
For vegetarian diet the sources of probiotics are curd, buttermilk, cottage cheese and other cheese which are high in protein and calcium and less in fat like feta cheese, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, swiss cheese, blue cheese, goat cheese etc.
People choose to follow these types of diet for various reasons ranging from health benefits concerns to regarding animal cruelty to the environment.
Since vegan and vegetarian diet does not differ much apart from dairy products both the form of diet has equal amount benefits.
Not just probiotics but both the diets include plenty of prebiotics which improves digestion, helps in balancing gut flora, boosts immunity, reduces the symptoms of digestive disorders, manages mental health by reducing anxiety, depression and other mental disorders
These diet seems to offer additional protection against obesity, improves kidney function, lower risk of diabetes mellitus type 2, and hypertension , cardiovascular disease and some cancers.
Plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes are often less calorie-dense than animal products, which means you can eat larger portions without consuming as many calories.
Since vegan and vegetarian diet includes fruits, vegetables, legume, whole grains , nuts and seeds hence they have higher fiber content, which helps to keep you full and satisfied for longer periods, reducing overall calorie intake, maintaining the blood sugar levels and reduces LDL cholesterol.
Vegan and vegetarian diets emphasize nutrient- dense foods that provide essential vitamins and minerals and antioxidants and anti-inflammatory foods without excess calories. Not just weight loss but nutrient dense food gives a healthy immunity and better quality of life.
While not always the case, many plant- based diets tend to include fewer processed foods, which are often high in unhealthy fats, sugars, and calories.
These diets generally contains less amount of saturated fats, hence reduces the LDL cholesterol and increase the HDL cholesterol through plant based options which are rich in good fats that is MUFA (Mono Unsaturated Fatty Acids) and PUFA (Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acids) and high in lean protein which becomes easy to digest in compare to animal protein.MUFA and PUFA contains omega3 fatty acids and omega 6 fatty acids which helps in brain development, anti-ageing and balances hormones.
Since vegan and vegetarian diets are high in fiber content and has lean proteins and healthy fats it helps in developing higher insulin sensitivity and potentially reducing the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Since these diets have good amount of probiotics and prebiotics hence it helps in balancing the gut and keeps the gut healthy. As we all know a healthy gut leads to healthy life. All chronic diseases start with an inflamed gut or a disturbed gut. Hence better and improved digestive health leads to better mood, better sleep quality, balanced hormones and thus lesser changes of auto-immune disorders. A healthy gut and clean eating helps with depression and anxiety disorders.
The thermic effect of food works by increasing your metabolic rate after eating. The increase in metabolic
rate is due to the energy that that is required for digestion, absorption and transportation of nutrients. Proteins have highest thermic effect followed by carbohydrates and fats. Plant-based foods often require more energy for digestion, which can increase the number of calories burned during digestion.
Many people who adopt vegan or vegetarian diets become more conscious of their food choices, leading to healthier eating habits overall. Mindful eating helps with better food choices, improves digestion, helps with portion control, reduces cravings, helps in becoming more aware about eating habits and patterns, reduces emotional eating and improves awareness of hunger and fullness cues which will actually help with unnecessary blood sugar spikes and hence will regulate blood sugar levels.
Since non vegetarian food is calorie dense, heavy on digestion and it takes longer time for the gut to digest the food and so the metabolism cannot boost up efficiently. But few changes in food habits can help achieve better gut balance and helps increasing metabolism. For example: instead of consuming egg yolks, just consume egg whites and add more veggies to it in form of salad or omelet. Chicken and fish can be paired with salad rather than having just red meat. As non-vegetarian food is high in calories one can have fish, chicken, meat in grilled form with salad with given portions can help balancing overall calorie intake.
Hence to achieve a sustainable and a healthy weight loss it is important to make sure how are the eating habits and how healthy is the gut and the body immunity is and so these foods includes anti-inflammatory and anti- oxidants which will help in eliminating any kind of free radical and oxidative stress which is holding on to the inflammation. When the body is inflamed it will hold on to the fat percentage and will be able to reduce it easily. And so it gets much easier to lose weight with vegan or vegetarian diet rather than choosing non-vegetarian food options.