Can you lose weight by being a vegetarian?
Many people think that vegetarianism, such as vegetables, fruits and cereals, is low in energy, unlike meat, which is high in fat and energy, so vegetarianism is definitely the best choice to lose weight. In real life, when you communicate with some vegetarians, they often say that vegetarianism will make people thinner, lighter and more energetic. But at the same time, people find that many vegetarians are obese. Some vegetarians, including many long-term vegetarian monks and nuns, are overweight and obese.
Of course, whether a person is obese is influenced by many factors, such as diet, exercise, mental state, illness and so on. Except for secondary obesity and hereditary obesity, 99% of obese people belong to simple obesity, that is, weight gain caused by imbalance of energy intake and consumption. If a person's exercise does not change much before and after vegetarianism, then the high energy intake caused by improper vegetarianism is the main cause of obesity.
Energy balance is the key.
For a healthy adult, energy imbalance is the main reason for the weight gain of most simple obese people. For an urban population who has been engaged in light manual labor for a long time, women need about 2 100Kcal per day, and men need about 2400Kcal. Why each of us can keep our weight basically unchanged for a period of time, with no obvious increase or decrease, mainly because the energy we consume from food is roughly balanced during this period, so our weight remains stable. If a person eats too much wine and meat for a long time, the energy intake obviously exceeds the consumption, and too much energy will accumulate in the human body in the form of fat, and it is inevitable to gradually become obese.
Vegetarianism increases food intake.
From the above analysis, it can be seen that the change of human body weight depends on the balance of total energy intake and consumption, and is not entirely related to meat or vegetarian food. And in life, it is often found that many vegetarians eat more than before. The author has several vegetarian friends who often bask in their snacks in WeChat circle of friends and Weibo. These snacks are varied, except meat and processed products, almost everything, such as puffed food, French fries, fried beans, chestnuts and so on. I was surprised to ask them why they like to eat snacks so much after being vegetarian. They often answer that vegetarians will never feel full and will be hungry easily. This has something to do with vegetarians not eating meat.
We often have the experience that eating steamed buns and meat buns in the morning is obviously easy to get hungry at noon. This is because after eating meat, people can produce a kind of intestinal gastrin in the intestine, which makes people feel full, and meat is rich in protein and fat, which is not easy to digest, so eating meat is more resistant to hunger. Therefore, vegetarians will eliminate hunger by increasing the intake of staple foods and eating snacks, and many snacks, such as fried foods and nuts, are high-energy foods, so the total energy that vegetarians get every day is not necessarily less than that of the general population.
Cooking methods affect energy levels.
When we say vegetarian food, we mean low-energy food, which is often aimed at unprocessed food, such as vegetables. Once cooked, the energy actually obtained from vegetarian food may be higher, which mainly depends on the cooking method. Vegetarian cooking methods determine its calorie and fat content.
Fat is a kind of food that can increase the taste and flavor of food. It has a pleasant fragrance and can give people a sense of dietary satisfaction. Therefore, why chocolate is so popular has a lot to do with the fat it contains. Vegetarian food lacks fat, so the food processed with vegetables is tasteless and tastes worse. In order to increase the flavor and taste of vegetarian dishes, more oil and seasonings are usually used in the cooking process. In this way, people will unconsciously consume more hidden fat, which is more likely to cause some diseases.
Now there are more and more vegetarian restaurants in urban areas, and many vegetarian dishes are delicious, which will simulate the state of eating meat and make it easier for people to accept vegetarian food. This is not only the embodiment of the diversification of vegetarian cooking, but also the positive spread of vegetarian culture. But who can refuse such a vegetarian diet with good color, smell and shape? Will there be less oil, salt and sugar in it? Many people will feel low energy because they are vegetarians, but their energy intake will increase unconsciously.
Therefore, meat is not the source of all diseases, and vegetarianism cannot prevent all diseases. The key is to see how and how much you eat.
Vegetarian food is not advisable.
Vegetarian food is single, and if it is not properly matched, it will easily lead to nutritional deficiency. For example, manganese contained in plant food is difficult to be absorbed by human body, and only manganese contained in meat food is easy to be absorbed by human body; People who don't eat meat at all have unbalanced nutrition and weak immune function. The incidence of anemia among vegetarians is higher. Vegetarians are often prone to lack zinc and fat-soluble vitamins, which will bring corresponding health problems.
Therefore, judging from the balanced diet and the dietary pattern formed by China people for thousands of years, a balanced diet of animals and plants and a proper vegetarian diet are suitable for China people. If you are a vegetarian, it is recommended not to adopt a vegan diet, but to eat some milk, dairy products and eggs appropriately, and eat more mushrooms, beans and nuts to achieve a reasonable diet balance.