Vegetarian diets are best for weight loss/ healthy hearts

VeggieStef wrote: »

As long as you don't replace the meat with junk food or pills then I do believe it will make you a healthier person. I feel and look better as a vegetarian than I ever did as a meat eater. Good luck to you in whatever you end up choosing. I hope you get good results when you go back to your doctor. I think it is always a good idea to try and make lifestyle changes and see if that works for you before taking medication.

I appreciate you saying that since I myself am becoming a vegetarian. My sister has been a vegetarian for years and my other sister a vegan and I felt I could continue eating meat and getting the same results. They were both healthier and thinner on account of their "lifestyles." Recently I decided to go vegetarian with my family and we're seeing great improvements.

SugarySweetheart wrote: »

VeggieStef wrote: »

As long as you don't replace the meat with junk food or pills then I do believe it will make you a healthier person. I feel and look better as a vegetarian than I ever did as a meat eater. Good luck to you in whatever you end up choosing. I hope you get good results when you go back to your doctor. I think it is always a good idea to try and make lifestyle changes and see if that works for you before taking medication.

I appreciate you saying that since I myself am becoming a vegetarian. My sister has been a vegetarian for years and my other sister a vegan and I felt I could continue eating meat and getting the same results. They were both healthier and thinner on account of their "lifestyles." Recently I decided to go vegetarian with my family and we're seeing great improvements.

That is awesome! I am now a vegan but was a vegetarian for many years before. I think doing one at a time worked best for me. You can add me if you like. There are a lot of nice veggie people here on MFP that are encouraging and can give you some really good food ideas.

Nuke_64 wrote: »

Eat in deficit, exercise, and avoid foods high in saturated fat.

My total cholesterol dropped 80 points in 2 months after basically doing this, although I have not avoided foods high in saturated fat.

I dropped my cholesterol by the same amount by adding exercise and removing all saturated fat. I used to have a piece of toast with butter for example.

I also take a good phytosterol with betasistoral supplement with every meal. My doctor is very happy with my cholesterol!

But, now I guess there are some new studies that are questioning if high cholesterol really leads to heart disease? I don't know.

1Luv0110 wrote: »

Will I be healthier by changing what I eat?

Yes, a plant-based diet can result in highly positive changes and improve heart health (see Drs. Campbell, Ornish, Esselstyn). It's great your MD referred you to a RD; I applaud any doctor that believes nutrition is the first step to healing the body. You have a trusted team helping you through the process along with great resources (books, internet sites and forums).

Will you be healthier by changing you diet? Well, it depends, largely on how you eat as a "vegetarian". The aforementioned doctors recommend a whole-foods (minimally processed), plant-based low-fat diet (<---wordy) and they've written books explaining their position. In short, you can enjoy an abundance of fruit, vegetables, legumes, and grains while consuming minimal amounts of fat (seed, avocado, and nuts) but eliminating all refined foods and fats.

It is a radical but very freeing shift but comes with great benefits and even simplicity. Beyond heart health, many see improvements in energy, weight loss and relief of other ailments (disclaimer: when one eats sufficient calories). You are not relegated to eating salads all day and for the serious cook, one could look to cookbooks authors Amy Chaplain and Sarah Britton for great recipes.

1Luv0110 wrote: »

Anyone change their lifestyle and become a vegetarian for weight loss or heart health reasons?

Yes, I first ventured into psuedo-vegetarianism for weight loss purposes some time ago. It was a transition - first eliminating beef, then pork, later turkey, and then chicken; but I still ate fish and eggs. It started off good but I struggled with eating out / social gatherings and managing work related travel. Due to poor planning, I'd often consume a lot of junk food. Needless to say, it was a weight loss/gain yo-yo effect; I never got to my goal.

Then, I had a unexpected situation occur in my life that required me to pay attention to my health. It was then, I decided to understand what diet would serve best in healing and energizing my body. I read books, scoured the internet and ultimately realized that a plant-based diet would be optimal for my goals. With new knowledge, I realized my previous attempts at vegetarianism, while an improvement on SAD, wasn't nutrient-dense or particularly healthy.

Sorry for this long post but I hope you give this a fair chance. Take the time to research this (along with the RD). Focus on what you can have and you like that falls within the "good for you" parameters. It may take time to develop a strong foundation and habit. This diet can very well heal the wrong that is going on internally.

wizzybeth wrote: »

I've been told that some people's bodies just naturally create excessive cholesterol regardless of what they eat (or don't eat).

This is correct.

My boyfriend had extremely high cholesterol when we first started dating. I went on a mission with him to change this. We added in more veggie sides at dinner, added in WAY more fiber (via produce and fiber-added oatmeals, cereals, etc.), and cut down the red meat to once every week or two. We never stopped eating eggs, meat, fat, etc.

This, combined with daily exercise (although he was not overweight to begin with) dropped his total cholesterol from over 300 to under 200 in 5 months.

My point is you can make small but effective changes, if a complete diet change is unsustainable in the long run.

apmat wrote: »

I was a vegetarian for two years and had very low dietary cholesterol but high blood cholesterol and triglycerides. I went off the vegetarian diet but kept losing weight. After 50 lbs lost my cholesterol and triglycerides dropped to normal levels for the first time in my life. I still eat mostly vegetarian for health and ethical reasons, not cholesterol. Most vegetarian diets are healrhier than non-vegetarian ( excluding oreos & doritos) but there is nothing magical about 100%. Eating a more vegetables and a more vegetarian diet will probably improve your nutrition even if you only eat vegetarian some of the time.

Agree!!! You don't have to be 100%, it isn't all or nothing

Nah. Just eat *lean* meats and weigh the portions.

Unless spiritually or morally compelled to eliminate meat from your diet, I don't see a need to. Eating lean animal proteins that aren't fried in something seems fine to me...and I'm a 20+ year pescetarian (fish and veg only, and even then, only occasional fish). I don't see elimination diets as being sustainable long-term, unless there is something else at bay. And yes, you can be overweight as a vegetarian (raises hand) and have high cholesterol (my step father who has been a total, die-hard vegetarian longer than I have.) So...reconsider if your heart isn't in it! A registered nutritionist could help you meet your goals...

I had to go on an all vegetarian diet due to severe acid reflux that took me six months to straighten out. And I used to only eat protein and vegetables. A vegetarian diet that includes lots of whole grains, oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice etc.. will fix a lot more than an unhealthy heart. A good book to get is 'The Digestive Tune-Up', excellent... It explains why heart disease, gerd etc is a disease of affluence that mostly only Americans suffer from due to the rich diet of meats, cheeses etc... There are other ways to get protein other than meat, that is a false idea that's been fed to us by the media.
I'm back to adding a little meat or fish back into my diet but nothing like it was before, also I eat lots more whole grains and no processed food at all.