Preventing Weight Gain...

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Those darn low fat high carb veggies do it again...

Switching to vegetarian keeps weight down: study By Reaney

1 hour, 51 minutes ago

If you want to keep the weight down, switch to a meat-free diet,

scientists said on Tuesday.

Researchers who studied the eating habits of 22,000 people over five

years, including meat eaters and vegetarians, found they all put on a

few kilos but meat eaters who changed to a vegetarian or vegan diet

gained the least.

" Contrary to current popular views that a diet low in carbohydrates and

high in protein keeps weight down, we found that the lowest weight gain

came in people with high intake of carbohydrates and low intake of

protein, " said Professor Tim Key.

The research compared weight gain among meat eaters, fish eaters,

vegetarians and vegans -- who eat no animal products -- and is published

in the International Journal of Obesity.

It showed that on average people gained 2 kilos (4.4 lb) over five

years. None of the volunteers was overweight.

" The weight gain was less in the vegans than in the meat-eaters and

somewhere in between in the other groups, " said Key, of Britain's Cancer

Research UK charity and the University of Oxford, who conducted the

study.

" The lowest weight gain was in people who changed their diet to eat

fewer animal products, " he told Reuters.

Key and his colleagues said exercise was another important factor in

controlling weight.

" The data also showed that people who became more physically active

during the five-year period gained less weight than people who did very

little exercise, " Key said.

The findings are from the British arm of EPIC (European Prospective

Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition), which is comparing the diets

of 500,000 people in 10 countries to discover how diet is linked to

cancer.

The EPIC study has already revealed that diabetics have three times the

normal risk of developing colorectal cancer, which kills more than

490,000 people worldwide each year.

It also showed that diet is second only to tobacco, as a leading cause

of cancer, and, along with alcohol, is responsible for nearly a third of

cancer cases in developed countries.