Eating only vegetarian food can promote gastrointestinal hormones to regulate blood pressure. A new study conducted by researchers from three international institutions in Prague, Czech Republic, the Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, the Institute of Endocrinology and the Doctor of Medicine Committee in Washington, D.C. pointed out that a plant-based diet is beneficial to one's health and many aspects, and said that following a vegetarian diet can promote the existence of certain gastrointestinal hormones, help regulate blood pressure, and help people feel full more quickly, so it is beneficial to lose weight.
Rich fiber increases satiety and is beneficial to weight management. In this diet study, team members cooperated with 60 male participants, of whom 20 were diagnosed as obese, 20 had type 2 diabetes, and the other 20 had no health problems, forming a control group. The researchers randomly divided the participants into two groups. Some people ate tofu vegetarian food, while others ate processed meat and cheese, and adjusted the two diets to the same calories and nutrients. Researchers have found that whether they have diabetes, obesity or no health problems at all, people who eat vegetarian food have more beneficial gastrointestinal hormones than people who eat meat and cheese.
The researchers explained that because plant foods are rich in fiber, they will not add extra calories except for increasing satiety. Beneficial intestinal hormones help to regulate glucose, enhance insulin secretion and regulate blood sugar. Compared with the control group, the body mass index of participants who received low-fat vegetarian diet decreased significantly.
Dr Hana Kahleova, co-author of the research report, said that simple dietary choices can increase the secretion of these healthy hormones, which is of great significance to those with type 2 diabetes or weight problems. The current research strengthens the evidence of the previously found benefits of plant-based diet, and further explains that it can maintain intestinal health and promote weight management.
Reference article: Among T2d, obese and healthy men, plant meat can increase gastrin and satiety more than processed meat with matching energy and macro-nutrition: a three-group randomized crossover study.
Paper file: Nutrients was published in 2009 and published online by MDPI Company. It is an open access journal of human nutrition, which is reviewed by Asia-Pacific Nutrition Genomics Organization (APNNO), Italian Department of Social Pediatric Nutrition and Digestion (SIGENP), New Zealand Nutrition Society (NSNZ), Australian Nutrition Society (NSA) and other international nutrition organizations.