(WebMD) Where's the beef? Just forget it — and the chicken and fish, too.

Researchers have found that people who stuck to a vegetarian diet for at least one year lost more weight than those on a standard low-fat diet. And they shed considerably more excess flab than those who didn't stick with the meatless plan.

Additionally, levels of LDL "bad" cholesterol dropped after six months on the vegetarian diet, although they started to rebound when people went back to their normal eating habits a year later, says Lora A. Burke, Ph.D., professor of nursing and epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh.

If you adhere to the vegetarian diet, "you will lose weight and have significant improvements in your heart disease risk profile," she tells WebMD.

Dairy Products, Eggs Allowed

The study, presented here at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association (AHA), included 176 overweight men and women.

Eighty were randomly assigned to follow a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet, in which you can eat eggs and dairy products, but not red meat, poultry, or fish. The remaining 96 participants were assigned to a standard, low-calorie, low-fat diet.

People following the standard diet were told to get no more than 25 percent of their total calories from fat. Participants from both groups were told to count calories.

Additionally, women and men who weighed under 200 pounds were limited to 1,200 and 1,500 calories a day, respectively. Women who weighed more got a 1,500 calorie-a-day allowance, while heavier men were permitted 1,800 calories a day.

All the participants had regular weigh-ins and counseling sessions with a nurse practitioner for one year.

Veggie Diet Wins People Over

Burke says the researchers were concerned that people wouldn't stick to the veggie meal plan, but that did not prove to be the case — at least during the year that structured counseling continued.

"Giving up meat is a huge, difficult change for Americans," she says. "One-third of participants didn't want to be on the vegetarian diet at the start of the study."

But many stuck it out. In fact, 40 percent were still meat-free 12 months later. In contrast, only 30 percent of people on the standard diet stayed on their diet plan for a year.

By 18 months out, people assigned to the lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet had lost an average of 11.2 pounds vs. 10.4 pounds in the standard-diet group.

Sticking to the Diet Is the Big Issue

The researchers then decided to look further at the people on the vegetarian diet, comparing those who stuck to the plan for at least one year with those who did not.

Among the findings:


Those who adhered to the vegetarian meal plan lost an average of 16.5 pounds, compared with 4.8 pounds for those who didn't stick with it.


Those who stuck it out also consumed fewer calories (1,452 vs.1,685 in the non-adherers), less fat (41 grams vs. 61 grams), and less saturated fat (13.4 grams vs. 20.8 grams).


Six months in, LDL "bad' cholesterol levels in the adherent group improved significantly compared with the nonadherers.

Structured Visits Help People Stick It Out

Once structured counseling stopped at one year, people appeared to go back to their old ways, Burke says. Over the next six months, those who stuck with the diet for a year gained about 6 pounds. Weight remained stable among those who hadn't stuck with the diet to begin with.

That may explain why at 18 months, there was no significant difference in LDL cholesterol improvements among the two groups, she says.

"People on a structured diet plan need regular follow-up with a nutritionist, nurse practitioner or other health care professional," Burke says.

AHA spokesperson Gerald Fletcher, M.D., a preventive cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., agrees.

"Losing weight and keeping it off is a lifelong problem, and people might have trouble ticking with this," he tells WebMD.

If you can't see a health care professional regularly, "you may want to set up computer reminders that ask you every five days or so whether you have weighed yourself and whether you're following your diet," Fletcher says. "These can be very effective."

Burke is now conducting a new two-year study in which participants have structured visits every six weeks to determine if the benefits of the vegetarian diet can be sustained further.








OF COURSE THIS IS A NO-DUH KIND OF THING,

I'm gonna scalp you.

don't forget.....

SpisaRibb said:

just what is a "SpisaRibb"?

purplerein said:

It's good china.

luv4all7 said:

no. that's kaysersosay

purplerein said:

I love that movie!!!!

No really, Lemme get spisa out of the living room, and he'll show ya.

IrresistibleB1tch said:

i was timing how long it would take you to get here.
i know..vegans taste better

purplerein said:

<-- smug-ass vegan grin

In other news, not jumping off the top of a tall building has been proven to do wonders for bone strength.

Anx said:

but how do they taste?

purplerein said:

if you sautee a tall building in garlic oil, it can taste just like chicken.

Anx said:

Anx, can you go to my thanks giving thread and post a veggie recipe.

I know how you like special invitations and all.

luv4all7 said:

i seem to be the butt of something this evening.

Anx said:

actually you know..me take that back.
[Edited 11/16/06 16:40pm]

Anx said:

I forget, is it red wine with tall buildings or white? I know it's white wine with libraries.

purplerein said:

"Spisa Ribb"

Circa 1955-60

Designer: Stig Lindberg (1916-1982)

Stig Lindberg was one of the leading designers during Sweden's Golden Age of Industrial Arts. He worked principally in household items, notably ceramics. His name and works are familiar to most Swedes as are his illustrations of popular childrens books. His career spanned from 1937-1981, employed by Gustavsberg since 1947, and becoming design director in 1957. Major exhibits of his work were introduced as early as 1939 and are widely represented in museums and collections all over the world today. The National Museum in Sweden has some 300 items of his, from tableware, craft items, textiles, book illustrations, enamels, glass plastic etc. on display, and the items he designed are still highly sought after today.

Did you know? that Stig Lindberg's Spisa Ribb pattern plate, is represented on a highly collectible Swedish issue stamp from the Swedish Design/ Svensk Form philatelic offering of 1994? His work is represented along with that of several other highly acclaimed Swedish designers such as Wennerberg, Franck, Malmsten, Hald, persson & Sampe and Nilsson.

They are ringed in brown and carry radiating fine black lines around the rim. They represent the very best of fine Swedish tableware design, noted for clean, spare simple lines in a modern context.

I weighed 122 when I went veggie. Well, I kept fish in my diet. Anyway, I dropped down to 115. I worked on gaining it back, got myself to 120, then dropped all sodas and lost weight again. Got myself back to 120 though where I've stayed.