Studies Show Vegetarian and Vegan Diets Can Aid Weight Loss
Researchers from the University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia compared several different diets that showed that vegetarian, vegan and paleo diets are highly effective for weight loss. The researchers explained, “The vegetarian, vegan and especially the paleo groups showed characteristics of relative psychological strength, including more helpful and health-motivated eating behaviors.”
Improved Psychological Health Comes Healthy Diets
It seems that vegan and vegetarian diets are associated with psychological health. The researchers wrote, “People adhering to different dietary patterns showed stark differences in their psychological characteristics. Indeed, some restrictive dietary patterns (paleo and vegan) were associated with more positive psychological characteristics than seen in an unrestricted comparison group. This suggests that the psychological risk factors seen in weight loss dieters are not attributable to a restrictive dietary regimen per se.” Being vegan and vegetarian makes people feel good about themselves, so it makes sense that these diets lead to improved mental health.
Paleo Diet Has Excellent Results
The paleo diet leads to a lot more discipline in particular. “This was particularly apparent among the paleo group, who reported the lowest levels of eating disorder symptoms, food cravings, emotional eating and negative affect.” This is a definite good sign for paleo diet enthusiasts, which among biohackers there are many.
- Norwood, R., Cruwys, T., Chachay, V. S., & Sheffield, J. (2019). The psychological characteristics of people consuming vegetarian, vegan, paleo, gluten free and weight loss dietary patterns. Obesity Science & Practice, 5(2), 148–158. https://doi.org/10.1002/osp4.325
