For a long time, what diets for weight loss amounted to was eating less food.   Sometimes, that also meant taking stimulants to suppress the appetite.   Those weren’t very healthy approaches for weight loss, and unfortunately, many people still think that’s the way it’s done.

Losing Weight Is About Proportions, not Necessarily Amounts

Unless your grocery bill looks somewhat like King Henry VIII’s, losing weight isn’t really a matter of how much you eat, but the relative amounts of what you eat.   In fact, the problems of his diet probably had more to do with his penchant for sweets and alcohol and eschewing vegetables than how much meat he ate.

What is truly important in a diet for weight loss is cutting out carbohydrates and increasing protein.   This has been a hallmark in many diets that have emerged since the Dr. Adkins diet, and it works.   The big question is if that model can be improved on.

Improving on the Low Carb Diet

It shouldn’t be surprising that the low carb diet could be improved on.   Since the Dr. Adkins diet appeared on the scene, it has undergone several modifications.   The main matter is to identify what carbs need to go, and which proteins need to increase.

For instance, milk protein and soy protein are perfectly acceptable for many low carb diets.   However, both forms of protein have problems that can undermine your weight loss.   Dairy products contain an abundance of a carbohydrate called lactose, and non-organic dairy includes growth hormones.   Soy products include precursors for estrogen, a hormone proven to keep you from burning fat.   Without question, soy protein has to go.

Without Soy Protein, What’s a Vegan to Do?

Since soy protein isn’t an option, this might seem to leave vegans without much choice in protein consumption.   The perspective on this depends.   Do you consider peanuts to be different to walnuts in a similar way that pork is different to beef?

For a person who doesn’t eat meat on any level, it’s entirely possible that peanuts and walnuts are different on that level.   Scientifically, they are even further apart than pork and beef.   Peanuts are genetically closer to potatoes than they are to walnuts.   It may seem strange, but it’s true also of plantains versus bananas.   They look very similar, but the genetics pan out differently.

For the vegans, the rules for nut consumption are very similar to the rules for meat eaters and the flesh they eat.   Organic and unprocessed is far preferable than the stuff you’ll normally find in the grocery store.   Raw and organic is the rule, and it’s entirely possible you’ll have to start shopping at a natural foods store instead of Wal-Mart.   The question ultimately is what is your health worth to you?

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