Looking for a plant-based diet for weight loss? And worried about how to manage it?
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- Avoid highly processed food
- Eat more non-starchy vegetables
- Get enough good quality protein
- Prepare your meal in advance
- Keep it balanced
If you are searching for an effective way to reduce weight, it’s worth considering a plant-based diet for weight loss. Scientists are increasingly convinced that a vegetarian diet may be a particularly effective approach in the fight against obesity.
There are many reasons why carefully planned vegan and vegetarian diets may help you to reduce your size. Start with the basic principle of weight loss is a calorie deficit, and plant foods tend to have low-calorie density. They are also high in dietary fiber. Fiber keeps appetite in check and regulates blood sugar levels. Vegan and vegetarian diets may also have a powerful impact on gut health and inflammation levels — two factors that may support excess body weight.
Not every diet based on fruit, vegetables, and whole grains can help you to control unwanted pounds with ease. To maximize the fat-burning potential of your vegan or vegetarian diet, certain tweaks may be included. Here, in this article, we discuss how to follow a plant-based diet for weight loss to get the best results.
If you want to switch yourself to a plant-based diet, but aren’t sure where to start, check out our article on the want a flatter Stomach leave these 6 Worst Eating Habits. For useful tips and advice. And if you are struggling to get enough protein, supplementing with the best vegan protein powder can help you easily top up your intake.
1. Always AVOID HIGHLY PROCESSED FOODS
Highly processed foods have low nutritional quality, even if they are labeled as vegan and marketed to health-conscious consumers. It’s assumed that all plant-based products are good for you. However, while these foods undergo intense processing, they are stripped of healthy nutrients, even dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Typical examples include products rich in simple carbohydrates, such as white bread, white pasta, and white rice, as well as ready-to-cook meals, canned soups, and certain meat substitutes.
Highly processed foods are also relatively higher in calories. “Humans eat a similar weight of food each day; if much of that food is energy-dense vegan convenience foods, then far more energy will be taken in, alongside sugar, salt, and even in saturated fat,”. “If much of that food is, low energy-dense or low in calories whole, plant foods, then we can eat more, fill our stomachs and feel satisfied, but we will have taken on much less energy, and much more fiber, water, polyphenols, and antioxidants that are beneficial for health and weight management.”
So if you want to follow a plant-based diet for weight loss, focus on fresh products and minimally processed foods. For instance, make sure that most of your carbohydrates come from whole grains, such as brown rice, rolled oats, and quinoa. For more great examples, check out these Frequently asked questions about ketones and the keto diet |How it Works.
2. EAT MORE NON-STARCHY VEGETABLES
If you are agreed to follow a plant-based diet for weight loss, it is a good idea to cut the starchy vegetables, such as corn, potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, and beetroots. These foods are packed with essential nutrients and may provide many benefits to our health. But at the same time, these vegetables are exceptionally rich in starchy carbohydrates. They are a type of complex carbohydrates that keep our metabolism in check, eating too much starch may get in the way of your weight loss journey.
Non-starchy vegetables are low in calories and carbohydrates and particularly high in dietary fiber. These include leafy greens, such as kale, spinach, and lettuce, as well as broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, leeks, celery, and cucumber cabbage.
In fact, “Fiber is the key to helping us feel physically full as well as to feed our beneficial gut bacteria. Our gut bacteria play a crucial role in weight management,”. “When they break fiber down, they produce substances called short-chain fatty acids (SCFA). These SCFAs help regulate our hunger hormones, control our blood sugar levels, help us feel happier, and even give support to our immune system.”
Non-starchy vegetables should be added to every meal and the purpose is to fill at least half of your plate with them. Significantly this will lower the calorie density of your diet while getting a reasonable amount of dietary fiber.
3. GET ENOUGH GOOD QUALITY PROTEIN
While following a plant-based diet for weight loss, make sure you get enough good-quality protein. Cutting down on energy-dense vegan foods like beans, peas, nuts, and seeds helps decrease the overall calorie of your diet. At the same time, these foods are particularly rich in protein. Without enough of them, it may be more difficult to get enough of this crucial nutrient. One perfect solution to this issue is to include more of the best vegan sources of protein in your diets, such as tofu, tempeh, and seitan.
One of the main roles of protein is to build and maintain muscle mass. The more muscle we have, the higher our metabolism, and the more calories we burn. Protein may also help our body to increase energy levels and keep our hunger at bay by making us feel fuller for longer. 4. PREPARE YOUR MEALS IN ADVANCE
When life with hectic life it is difficult to follow a healthy diet. We may not have the energy to spend long hours in the kitchen. One of the downsides of a plant-based diet for weight loss is that it may be time-consuming, especially if you have to peel and cut your vegetables. To stay on track no matter the circumstances, keep some prepared meals and snacks in your fridge at all times. For example, develop a habit of meal prepping and batch cooking on certain days of the week. Your plant-based diet should be balanced and versatile is another important aspect of your weight loss tenure. Eating in this way will maximize the fiber and beneficial plant compounds, increase gut bacterial diversity, improve insulin sensitivity, reduce your energy intake without leaving you hungry, and support you to reach your best weight loss target. Aim to cover half the plate with seasonal colorful fruits and vegetables like apples, berries, broccoli, bananas, beetroot, carrots, cauliflower, cucumber, and dark leafy greens like kale and spinach or any other you’re favorite. “Fill one quarter with healthy whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, wholewheat pasta, oats, and wholemeal bread. Fill the final quarter with high-protein plant foods such as beans, lentils, tofu, and tempeh. Top your meal with a small number of healthy fats such as seeds or avocado.” This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to offer medical advice.
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