A vegetarian diet is hugely effective for weight loss – vegetarians tend to be slimmer than meat-eaters, and they experience lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other life-threatening conditions linked to being overweight or obese.

And all these benefits have nothing to do with stepping up the exercise or calorie-counting. In fact, one study showed that by going vegetarian, you’ll lose approximately 1 pound per week, even without additional exercise or limits on portion sizes, calories, or carbohydrates.

'Our research reveals that people can enjoy unlimited portions of high-fibre foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to achieve or maintain a healthy body weight without feeling hungry,' says American nutritionist Dr. Susan Berkow, who has led several studies on the benefits of a vegetarian diet.

A vegetarian or vegan diet causes an increased calorie burn after meals, meaning plant-based foods are being used more efficiently as fuel for the body, as opposed to being stored as fat, says Dr. Berkow. Insulin sensitivity is increased by a veggie diet, allowing nutrients to more rapidly enter the cells of the body to be converted to heat rather than to fat.

Research has also found following a vegetarian diet to be as effective as a drug treatment for lowering cholesterol. One Canadian study, for example, found that a vegetarian diet lowers your levels of LDL cholesterol - the 'bad' cholesterol known to cause clogging in coronary arteries - by almost 29 per cent, compared to a 30.9 per cent decrease in popular drug lovastatin. The researchers believe that while many people may still require drugs to lower their cholesterol, a veggie diet is an effective alternative for those who are prepared to control their food choices.

Top cholesterol-cutting powerfoods include leafy and non-starch veggies, nuts such as almonds, soy, high-fibre foods like oats and barley and margarine with vegetable oils.

Berkow also believes that a vegetarian diet may be a simple, drug-free treatment for high blood pressure, the silent killer linked to heart disease and diabetes. It could be because vegetarians tend to eat more potassium, plus plant-based foods to modulate blood flow. And as blood pressure is lowered, vegetarian people experience a reduced risk of stroke, heart attack, and kidney failure.

Vegetarians also experience lower cancer rates, and a diet rich in fruit and vegetables is widely known to prevent several types of cancer. Vegetarian & Vegan Foundation senior health campaigner Amanda Woodvine says that an estimated 70% of cancers could be prevented by including more fruit and vegetables in your diet. Plus, a plant-based fat abundant in vegetarian diets has been shown to inhibit the growth of prostate, colon and breast cancer cells. For more on how veggies fight cancer, Click Here.

The Critics

But despite the benefits, most people still believe that without meat, people can’t be truly healthy, and may suffer from vitamin and mineral deficiencies. For example, a strict vegetarian diet is associated with vitamin B-12 deficiency. But studies on the subject have been inconclusive, with most agreeing that the differences are negligible. Vegetarians are also thought to lack calcium, Vitamin D and bone mass, but studies are again inconclusive here – some have found that this is not the case, and one concluded that vegetarians actually have higher Vitamin D levels.

Meanwhile, there are numerous health benefits to vegetarianism, such as lower intakes of saturated fat and cholesterol and higher intakes of carbohydrates, fibre, magnesium, potassium, folate and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E. And if you eat a wide variety of veggie foods, you won’t suffer from any deficiencies either.

In other words, the benefits of a veggie diet far outweigh the risks.

Convinced? Click Here for tips on how you can take the plunge.

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