Eating low-carb vegan diet cuts risk of cardiac problems and aids weight loss, a new search shows.
Researchers at St Michael's Hospital revealed that the diet, called 'Eco-Atkins', helps reduce body fat in six months and lowers the risk of heart diseases by 10 percent over 10 years.
"We designed a diet that combined both vegan and low-carb elements to get the weight loss and cholesterol-lowering benefits of both." said study lead author Dr David Jenkins.
Researchers stated that the diet helped lower the cholesterol levels by 10 percent and aided in losing an average of four pounds in six months.
For the study, the research team gave menu plans that stated the food items and amounts to 23 obese men and women. The menu acted as a reference guide to the participants who were provided with a list of suitable food alternatives. The participants were able to change to the diet that suited their tastes with the help of the alternatives list.
The respondents had to consume 60 percent of the estimated caloric need and complete the six month diet.
Researchers wrote that the goal of 'Eco-Atkins' was to balance 26 percent of calories from carbohydrates, 31 percent from proteins and 43 percent from fat - all sourced from vegetable oils. They found that the chief carbohydrate sources were the high fiber food such as oats and barley and low-starch vegetable such as okra and eggplant. Protein was sourced from gluten, soy, vegetables, nuts and cereals. The fat sources for Eco-Atkins diet was nuts, vegetable oil, soy product and avocado.
"We could expect similar results in the real world because study participants selected their own diets and were able to adjust to their needs and preferences," said Dr Jenkins.
The study was published in the British medical Journal Open.
