Fw: [SoFlaVegans] Does Eating Vegetables Keep You Thin?

[Guest guest]

Just thought I'd pass this on to this list. It's pretty interesting -

especially the part entitled " The Invisible Plate " .

 

God's Peace,

Gayle

 

 

-

Fidyl

SoFlaVegans

Thursday, January 06, 2005 6:36 PM

[soFlaVegans] Does Eating Vegetables Keep You Thin?

 

 

Does Eating Vegetables Keep You Thin?

Sunday, January 2, 2005

 

http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=115668

 

AP Apparently yes, but it's not a license to binge.

 

Although there is still much work to be done, the data are coming in:

Vegetarians are significantly slimmer than meat eaters. On average,

vegetarian men weigh nearly 17 pounds less and vegetarians, according

7 pounds less than nonvegetarians, according to a a major analysis of

multiple studies by Joan Sabat, MD, chair of the department of

nutrition at Loma Linda University in California and editor of the

book Vegetarian Nutrition. And vegans are the sleekest of all,

according to a recent British study of 38,000 meat eaters, fish

eaters, vegetarians and vegans. The research, published in June 2003

in the International Journal of Obesity, found that vegans have

significantly lower body mass indexes (BMIs)-a measure of weight

relative to height-than meat eaters; fish eaters and vegetarians fall

somewhere in between.

 

Interestingly, scientists don't know precisely why vegetarians are

leaner. " But one reason is definitely diet, " says Sabat. The British

researchers found that the food factors most strongly associated with

gaining weight were high protein and low fiber intakes. By contrast,

vegetarian diets are generally high in fiber and complex

carbohydrates, not in protein. Vegetarians also tend to drink less

alcohol, exercise more and have other healthful habits that help keep

the pounds off, Sabat adds.

 

Still, simply eating a great deal of vegetables, whether you're a

vegetarian or not, seems to prevent an expanding waistline. When

American Cancer Society researchers tracked nearly 80,000 healthy

adults for 10 years, they found that men and women who ate 19 or more

servings of vegetables per week did not " succumb to abdominal

obesity " -that is, they didn't develop spare tires-while those who ate

meat more than seven times a week did. The study, published in the

May 1997 issue of the American journal of Public Health, emphasized

the hazards of piling on fat around the waist, or developing what's

known as an " apple " shape: It's linked to heart disease, diabetes and

certain cancers.

 

THE INVISIBLE PLATE

 

If you've got the advantage of being a vegetarian and you're still

struggling with encroaching pounds, it's time to take a hard look at

your plate.

 

In fact, start by being sure you can see your plate. In this era of

super-sized portions, it can easily disappear. For instance, a

typical restaurant portion of brown rice can be 2 cups-four times

larger than the healthful cup, 100-calorie serving that's the

recommended amount. What's covering your plate? Five servings and 500

calories.

 

To help you " right size " common vegetarian foods, Tara Geise, RD, of

the American Dietetic Association, suggests you visualize the

everyday equivalents in the chart below. " Also, just because it's

meatless, don't assume it's low-calorie, " adds. Geise, director of

nutrition and metabolism at Rippe Health Assessment at Florida

Hospital in Celebration. For example, everyone assumes that eggplant

is always a healthy food. " But if you saut it to make eggplant

parmesan, you've suddenly got a high-calorie dish because eggplant

hangs on to oil like crazy, " Geise says. How high? One cup of

eggplant parmesan serves up 319 calories-versus just 30 calories for

a cup of plain eggplant.

 

If cutting down on portions doesn't seem like enough, or you want to

jump-start your weight-loss efforts and think a structured plan would

help, Weight Watchers' TurnAround program provides special sections

for vegetarians and vegans. As for extreme low-carb diets, they're

still around but are hard to stick to-as are all extreme diets-and

they're tricky to pull off for vegetarians, especially vegans.

Besides, their effects may not be worth it. Very low-carb eating can

produce a dramatic initial weight loss, but after a while, people hit

a plateau, says Sabat. A higher-carb diet takes off weight more

slowly but just as surely and is easier to live with.

 

" I believe that in a few years, we'll find that-depending on

lifestyle, personality or genes-one type of diet works better for one

person and another for a different person, " says Sabat.

 

Meanwhile, vegetarian eating already gives you an edge. Take

advantage.

 

Nissa Simon is the award-winning author of two books and many

articles on health. She was the health editor of Reader's Digest New

Choices magazine for 10 years.

 

Source: Vegetarian Times

 

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