Now here’s a skinny quiz for you. Do you want to know who has the slimmest waist? Meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians, or vegans? Well, well! According to a new study, vegans do. Vegans are vegetarians who not only forego eating meat, fish, or fowl but also all foods derived from animals.
However, the reason vegans tend to be slimmer may lie in what they do eat – fibre. Lots of it. And that’s a habit you can easily duplicate. Fibre makes you feel full longer, and it seems to inhibit fat absorption. Broccoli pizza on whole-wheat crust, anyone?
Although fibre seems to help limit fat deposits, a meat-laden diet does just the opposite – it actually can cause an increase in body fat, especially in the belly, one of the worst places for it to accumulate in terms of both your health and your self-image. In one cross-sectional study, meat-eaters had the highest body mass indexes (BMIs), the height-weight ratio that’s the gold standard for separating healthy weights from weights that are too high or too low. Fish-eaters and vegetarians had lower BMIs than people who regularly ate meat, and vegans tended to have the lowest indexes of all.
One possible explanation is that high-protein diets may change the hormonal makeup of the body, altering body chemistry in a way that increases fat around the abdomen. Whatever the reason, the point is clear – you have yet another reason to up your intake of fibre-rich fruits, veggies, and whole grains – a smaller waist.
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