Plant-based Diet Boosts Metabolism

Low-fat plant-based diet is an effective tool for reducing body weight, increasing insulin sensitivity, and improving cardiometabolic risk factors in overweight people.

Plant-based diet can boost after-meal burn, leading to weight loss and improving cardiometabolic risk factors in overweight people, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

The study randomly selected overweight participants with no history of diabetes to an intervention or control group in a 1:1 ratio. For 16 weeks, volunteers in the intervention group followed a low-fat, plant-based diet based on fruits, whole grains, vegetables, and legumes with no calorie limit. The control group made no diet modifications. Neither group modified exercise or medication routines unless directed by their doctors.

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‘A low-fat plant-based dietary intervention decreases body weight by reducing energy intake and increasing postprandial metabolism. ’

Researchers applied indirect calorimetry to estimate how many calories participants burned after a standardized meal at both the start and end of the study. The plant-based group raised after-meal calorie burn by 18.7percent, on average, after 16 weeks. The control group's after-meal burn did not vary significantly.

"These conclusions are groundbreaking for the 160 million Americans fighting with overweight and obesity," states study author Hana Kahleova, MD. "Over the years and decades, burning more calories after every meal can make a significant difference in weight management."

Within just 16 weeks, participants in the plant-based group reduced their body weight by 6.4 kg (about 14 pounds), on average, than an insignificant change in the control group.

Plant-Based Diet Promotes Healthier, Longer Life
Adopting a plant-based diet will help in healthful aging by reducing the burden of chronic, age-related co-morbidities. It will also delay aging process and increase life expectancy.

"Not only did the plant-based group lose weight, but they encountered cardiometabolic improvements that will decrease their risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other health problems," states Dr. Kahleova.