Every month seems to bring a trendy new diet or weight loss fad—and yet obesity rates continue to rise, and with it a growing number of diseases and health problems.
Is A Whole Food Plant-based Diet Good For Weight Loss?
The dividing line between weight loss-promoting, health-promoting, and disease-promoting foods may be less plant- versus animal-sourced foods and more whole plant foods versus most everything else.
The largest study ever to compare the obesity rates of those eating plant-based diets was published in North America.
- Meat eaters topped the charts with an average body mass index (BMI) of 28.8—close to being obese.
- Flexitarians (people who ate meat more on a weekly basis rather than daily) did better at a BMI of 27.3, but were still overweight.
- With a BMI of 26.3, pesco-vegetarians (people who avoid all meat except fish) did better still.
- Even U.S. vegetarians tend to be marginally overweight, coming in at 25.7.
- The only dietary group found to be of ideal weight were those eating strictly plant-based (the “vegans”), whose BMI averaged 23.6.
Why Am I Not Losing Weight On A Whole Foods Plant-based Diet?
Three primary factors may be frustrating your attempts at weight loss even while on a whole foods, plant-based diet: evolutionary hard-wiring, metabolic adaptations, and calorie density. Let me break them down for you.
Evolutionary Hard-Wiring
We evolved over millions of years to survive scarcity, and those compensatory survival mechanisms our body uses to defend against weight loss have been hard-wired into us. So, when we start losing weight, we may unconsciously begin to move less as a “behavioral adaptation” to conserve energy.
Metabolic Adaptations
Those can come into play, too, when our metabolism slows down. In fact, every pound of weight loss may reduce our resting metabolic rate by seven calories a day. This may only translate to a few percent differences for most, but it can rapidly snowball for those who achieve massive weight loss. Learn more about this and what you can do about it from my video The Reason Weight Loss Plateaus When You Diet.
Calorie Density
Quite simply, you may be eating entirely plant-based whole foods, but they may be too high on the calorie density scale. Make sure you’ve cut out added fats and oils. Does it matter if you eat or drink your calories? Well, keep in mind that smoothies that can put a lot of nutrients into a glass, but usually calories will come along, too, so eat foods that cause you to spend lots of time chewing. Check out my article How to Lose Weight Eating More Food for more information.
What To Eat, Limit, And Avoid On A WFPB Diet?
What To Eat On a WFPB Diet?
Maximize unprocessed plant foods – closest to how they come in nature. For example, whole grains, beans and legumes, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, as well as herbs and spices.
What To Limit On a WFPB Diet?
Minimize processed plant foods and unprocessed animal foods. For example, bread and steak.
What To Cut Out On a WFPB Diet?
Avoid ultra-processed foods and processed animal foods. For example, cookies, chips, candy, soda, hot dogs, bacon, lunch meat, sausages, and oil.
Check out how I visualize this concept as a traffic light system.
Conclusion
I invite you to watch my recent live presentation, Evidence-Based Weight Loss, where I offer an overview of the key ingredients for weight loss, the topic of my book How Not to Diet.
FAQs
A whole food plant-based diet often leads to healthy weight loss, but if you're not seeing the scale move, these reasons could be why: You're still eating and cooking with oil. You need to eat more leafy greens (and fiber in general) You're going out to eat too much.
How long does it take to start losing weight on WFPB diet? ›
Most people who switch to a plant-based diet meal plan for weight loss see results within weeks, but occasionally results aren't as dramatic as dieters hope.
Why am I gaining weight on a WFPb diet? ›
You are consuming too many calories.
Consuming more calories than your body can use, whether it comes from carbohydrates, protein, or fat, results in weight gain over time, she suggested.
Why am I not losing weight eating whole foods? ›
Quite simply, you may be eating entirely plant-based whole foods, but they may be too high on the calorie density scale. Make sure you've cut out added fats and oils.
What is the downside of a plant-based diet? ›
Plant-based diets carry some risk of inadequate protein, vitamin, and mineral intake. But these risks are readily overcome by choosing the right vegetarian foods and, when necessary, supplements. For example, soy, quinoa, and nuts are good sources of protein, and tofu, lentils, and spinach are good sources of iron.
What is average weight loss on plant-based diet? ›
A review of 12 studies that included more than 1,100 people found that those assigned to plant-based diets lost significantly more weight — about 4.5 pounds (lbs), or 2 kilograms (kg), over an average of 18 weeks — than those assigned to non-vegetarian diets ( 5 ).
How to lose belly fat on plant-based diet? ›
Fiber-rich, gut-friendly foods like legumes, avocados, potatoes and berries could all help reduce visceral fat and opting for at least one vegan meal each day will assist you in ramping up your fiber intake with ease—along with complex carbs, healthy fats and other essential nutrients.
Why am I so hungry on a WFPB diet? ›
It might seem obvious, but "one of the reasons why you might feel hungrier when you transition to a vegan or plant-based diet is because you may not be eating enough calories and nutrients," explains Julie Barrette, a senior clinical dietician with Providence Mission Hospital.
Why am I so tired on WFPB diet? ›
Whilst important for iron absorption, a lack of vitamin C can also cause symptoms of fatigue, due to the vital role it plays in converting fat into energy. An individual following a WFPBD is likely to be consuming vitamin C in abundance.
Does everyone lose weight on plant-based diet? ›
There are a few studies that suggest that plant-based diets may have a slight edge for weight loss. In a study comparing plant-based diets to non-plant-based diets, people who followed a plant-based diet lost roughly 3 pounds more than non-vegetarians.
The Five Food Groups
Vegetables: Plenty of veggies including peppers, corn, lettuce, spinach, kale, peas, collards, etc. Tubers: Starchy root vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, and cassava (aka yuca).
How long does it take to lose weight on WFPb? ›
Studies have shown that a vegan diet can reduce your weight by an average of 5.6 pounds in 18 weeks, or less or more than a third of a pound per week!
Why do I feel worse on a plant-based diet? ›
Amino acids come from protein. Your body uses them to make important brain chemicals that help with your mood. If you don't have a well-planned vegan diet, you might not get enough protein. This means you may not consume enough amino acids, which could cause depression symptoms.
What happens to your body when you switch to a whole food plant-based diet? ›
A plant-based diet reduces your risk for other diseases too.
The benefits of eating mostly plants are not limited to reducing your cancer risk. A plant-based diet also has been shown to reduce your risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some mental health illnesses.
What are the problems with whole food plant-based diet? ›
Deficiency of micro-nutrients
Plant-based diets can sometimes lead to nutritional deficiencies such as vitamin B12, iron, zinc, calcium, and omega-3 fatty acids.
Why am I so hungry on whole food plant-based diet? ›
It might seem obvious, but "one of the reasons why you might feel hungrier when you transition to a vegan or plant-based diet is because you may not be eating enough calories and nutrients," explains Julie Barrette, a senior clinical dietician with Providence Mission Hospital.
