Can Plant-Based Diet Help You Lose Weight

A whopping 49.1 percent of Americans actively tried to lose weight within the last calendar year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The standard American diet is called SAD for a reason: It’s loaded with processed foods that drive many of the standard American diseases, including obesity. While multiple scientific studies have shown the effectiveness of plant-based diets for weight loss, not everyone will automatically lose weight after adopting a whole-food, plant-based diet . If you’ve been eating this way in the hope of achieving weight-loss goals and haven’t seen as much progress as you’d like, read on for strategies from leading plant-based experts.

“Calorie density” refers to the amount of calories per pound of a given food. Foods range from around 100 calories per pound (nonstarchy vegetables) to 4, 000 calories per pound (oil).

“Understanding caloric density is not about counting calories, or memorizing how many calories are in a cup of rice or half a cup of blueberries, ” says Chef AJ , California-based vegan chef and best-selling author of The Secrets to Ultimate Weight Loss . “When you change the average calorie density of the food you eat each day, you can literally consume twice as much food in terms of volume, yet take in half as many calories. As luck would have it, the healthiest, most nutrient-dense foods on the planet—whole plant foods—are also the most calorically dilute. By understanding and implementing calorie density, you really can eat more and weigh less.”

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By focusing on low-calorie density foods that are a natural part of a whole-food, plant-based diet, you’ll get lots of nutritional bang for your buck.

“Foods that are lower in calorie density (fruits, veggies, starchy vegetables, intact whole grains and legumes) are also higher in nutrient density, ” says Jeff Novick , MS, RD. “Therefore, by following a diet lower in calorie density, one also automatically consumes a diet higher in nutrient density.”

Garth Davis, MD , medical director of Mission Weight Management Center in Asheville, North Carolina, and author of Proteinaholic , echoes the sentiment: “Natural, unprocessed foods are loaded with fiber and water, which make you feel full without delivering as many calories.” The one caveat has to do with oil. “Watch out with the oils, as people often take a perfectly good salad with low calorie density and then add a ton of oil-filled dressing that’s extremely calorie dense, ” he adds. Which leads to our next tip…

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“Oil is the most calorie-dense food by volume, ” says Micaela Karlsen, PhD, MSPH, director of the Lifestyle Medicine Economic Research Consortium in Ithaca, New York, and founder of SustainableDiet.com , a distance-based, three-month support program to help people transition to plant-based eating.

One cup of oil contains almost 2, 000 calories. One cup of brown rice has only about 130 calories. (Other plant foods, besides high-fat nuts and seeds, are similarly calorically low.) Another major strike against oil: Because it doesn’t contain fiber, it doesn’t contribute to satiety.

All of Forks Over Knives’ recipes are designed without oil , and YouTube is packed with videos that can teach you how to sauté with vegetable broth, bake with applesauce or other substitutes, and make oil-free salad dressings with fruit, tofu, or nuts.

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“Veggies aren’t only nutritional powerhouses but also the food group that’s lowest in calorie density, ” says Chef AJ. “Full of fiber and water and averaging only 100 calories per pound, they fill you up without filling you out.”

Veggies such as kale, cabbage, spinach, and lettuce are especially beneficial: A compound in dark green leafies called thylakoid can actually turn off your hunger switch and help fight cravings for unhealthy foods, while a pound of nonstarchy veggies has fewer calories than a tablespoon of olive oil. That’s why Chef AJ recommends making 50 percent of your meals nonstarchy veggies. Her favorites are Brussels sprouts and zucchini. For the other half of the plate, fill it with whole foods that will satisfy your hunger, such as grains, legumes, and/or starchy veggies.

Aside from avoiding oil, you should also avoid any calories that come in liquid form, if your goal is to lose weight. “Don’t drink your calories, especially in the form of sports drinks, sodas, other sweetened beverages, and alcohol, ” says Michelle McMacken, MD , director of the NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue’s Plant-Based Lifestyle Medicine Program. “The calories in these drinks add up fast and don’t fill you up. And for weight loss, in my experience, eating whole fruit trumps drinking fruit juice. Water is the only beverage we actually need.”

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One of the healthiest means for weight loss is adopting a lower-calorie, high-fiber, nutrient-rich diet, which means eating more whole, plant-based foods, says Alone Pulde, MD, family medicine physician in Carlsbad, California, and co-author of several books, including The Forks Over Knives Plan and Forks Over Knives Family . That’s why her go-to word is: add .

“Add, add and add more whole, plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes to every meal, ” she says. Easier said than done? Nope, not when you think about combining these foods to create delicious meals like oatmeal with berries and roasted veggies with pasta. “The variety of foods you can include is limited only by your imagination, ” she says.

Just because it’s plant-based doesn’t mean it’s healthy . “Many food companies are slapping the plant-based term on numerous foods that are often highly processed, dense in calories, and [low in] nutrients, ” says Sharon Palmer, RDN , the Los Angeles–based Plant-Powered Dietitian and author of The Plant-Powered Diet and Plant-Powered for Life . This is true of plant-based burgers made by Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat .

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Last but not least, make exercise part of your regular routine. Opt for physical activities you enjoy, as you’ll be more likely to stick to a program. Ideally, you’ll find an activity or a combination of activities that covers strength, endurance, balance, and flexibility. But don’t hesitate to simply start where you are. “If your time is severely limited or you are unable to undertake a dynamic program, it’s still always better to get out and do some activity—even if it’s just a short walk each day, ” says Pulde. See No-Meat Athlete Matt Frazier’s 5 Tips for Adding Fitness to Your WFPB Lifestyle for more guidance.

Ready to get started? Check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path. To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer.

. Asp is also a certified fitness trainer, vegan lifestyle coach and educator, and a plant-powered athlete with several Nordic walking world records. She earned a certificate in plant-based nutrition through eCornell. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Can Plant Based Diets Help With Weight Loss?

By providing your email address, you consent to receive newsletter emails from Forks Over Knives. We value your privacy and will keep your email address safe. You may unsubscribe from our emails at any time.According to the CDC, nearly 50% of Americans are trying to lose weight at any given time. That’s not surprising given that 70% of us are overweight and carrying excess body fat.

Eating more vegetables and fruits is one of the top strategies for losing weight. Eating whole, minimally processed plant foods can promote satiety (feeling full and satisfied) and support your weight-loss efforts.

When following this eating style, plant foods should be whole and minimally processed — this means as close to their original form as possible. For example, you should choose a whole apple instead of apple juice, or nuts instead of nut butter with added salt and sugar.

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It’s also important to note that whole foods contain fewer preservatives and artificial ingredients. So, you should be able to recognize all the ingredients on the package. And, in many cases, your plant-based food selections should be fresh produce — which won’t have any label at all.

Research shows that plant-based diets may be the best route for weight loss. In fact, one study found that participants who followed a plant-based diet for 1 year without restricting calories reduced their body mass index (BMI), cholesterol and other health risk factors.

Another study found that compared to other diets, eating a vegan diet comprised only of plant foods produced the greatest weight loss over 18 weeks compared to other forms of plant-based eating.

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Whole plant foods tend to have more vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber than processed foods. Plants are also generally low in energy density, a measure of calories compared to volume of food. Simply put, they’re low in calories but take up a lot of space. For example, apples, leafy greens, broccoli, cooked oats and carrots are all whole plant foods. They take up a lot of space, are low in calories and take a while to eat.

The order of food eaten at a meal may impact how much is eaten. In fact, studies show that starting the meal with high-fiber, non-starchy vegetables like a salad or broth-based vegetable soup can help you eat less overall.

Similarly, starting a meal with a high-fiber whole fruit such as an

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