Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2015 Feb;31(2):350-8.
doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2014.09.002. Epub 2014 Oct 18.

Comparative effectiveness of plant-based diets for weight loss: a randomized controlled trial of five different diets

Gabrielle M Turner-McGrievy  1 , Charis R Davidson  2 , Ellen E Wingard  3 , Sara Wilcox  3 , Edward A Frongillo  2
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Comparative effectiveness of plant-based diets for weight loss: a randomized controlled trial of five different diets

Gabrielle M Turner-McGrievy et al. Nutrition. 2015 Feb.

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of plant-based diets on weight loss.

Methods: Participants were enrolled in a 6-mo, five-arm, randomized controlled trial in 2013 in South Carolina. Participants attended weekly group meetings, with the exception of the omnivorous group, which served as the control and attended monthly meetings augmented with weekly e-mail lessons. All groups attended monthly meetings for the last 4 mo of the study. Diets did not emphasize caloric restriction.

Results: Overweight adults (body mass index 25-49.9 kg/m(2); age 18-65 y, 19% non-white, and 27% men) were randomized to a low-fat, low-glycemic index diet: vegan (n = 12), vegetarian (n = 13), pesco-vegetarian (n = 13), semi-vegetarian (n = 13), or omnivorous (n = 12). Fifty (79%) participants completed the study. In intention-to-treat analysis, the linear trend for weight loss across the five groups was significant at both 2 (P < 0.01) and 6 mo (P < 0.01). At 6 mo, the weight loss in the vegan group (-7.5% ± 4.5%) was significantly different from the omnivorous (-3.1% ± 3.6%; P = 0.03), semi-vegetarian (-3.2% ± 3.8%; P = 0.03), and pesco-vegetarian (-3.2% ± 3.4%; P = 0.03) groups. Vegan participants decreased their fat and saturated fat more than the pesco-vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, and omnivorous groups at both 2 and 6 mo (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: Vegan diets may result in greater weight loss than more modest recommendations.

Keywords: Diet; Obesity; Vegan; Vegetarian; Weight loss.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms