Whether you’re a vegetarian, a vegan or an omnivore, the best plant based diets for weight loss can help you shed the extra pounds while getting healthy nourishment out of your meals. So if you’re interested in a diet that keeps it fresh, with minimal amounts or no fish, low-fat dairy and lean meat, learn more about the best rated ones.
From the popular Flexitarian Diet to the celebrity endorsed Macrobiotic Diet, check out the best weight loss diets that promote plant-sourced fresh foods.
Flexitarian Diet
Created by dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner and popularized by the book “The Flexitarian Diet: The Mostly Vegetarian Way to Lose Weight, Be Healthier, Prevent Disease, and Add Years to Your Life”, this is definitely one of the best plant based diets for weight loss. If you’d like a sensible and diverse weight loss plan, it might be the right way to go. By adding tofu, beans, whole grains, dairy and fresh produce to your diet, you’ll get results and improve your health.
Mediterranean Diet
Renowned as a diet low in red meat, saturated fat and sugar, the Mediterranean diet includes plenty of healthy fats, mostly coming from fresh produce and nuts. With benefits for cardiovascular health and a longer life expectancy, the Mediterranean Diet is considered one of the best plant based diets for weight loss. It wasn’t developed for weight loss, but most people will be able to get a beneficial effect from it.
Vegetarian Diet
Whether you’re keeping eggs and dairy in your diet or saying goodbye to all animal products, the vegetarian diet can definitely help you lose weight. Vegetarians, even the lacto-ovo variety, tend to weight less and have a lower BMI. As long as you don’t indulge in too many fried recipes or binge on desserts, you can get great results with this diet.
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Anti-Inflammatory Diet
One of the best plant based diets for weight loss is also one of the most difficult to follow. The Anti-Inflammatory Diet was developed by Dr. Andrew Weik, after extensive studies in integrative medicine. Limiting the amounts of animal protein in your diet also brings down any inflammation, and this diet can also have great weight loss benefits. If you’re organized and can handle strict diets, it’s a top choice.
Ornish Diet
Created by Dean Ornish, professor of medicine at the University of California, the Ornish Diet is a complete package. Mixing tips on nutrition with principles of exercise and even stress management, this diet plan is very versatile, laying out its principles and letting you choose how many healthy foods you’re willing to introduce at once in your diet.
Asian Diet
With many plant dishes and very little red meat, the traditional Asian Diet is one of the best plant based diets for weight loss since it also restricts fats and includes plenty of rice, fresh vegetables and fruit, along with fish. It’s not actually a diet, but you can easily find Asian recipes that lack fatty meats. Sweets and red meat make up the top of the Asian Diet Pyramid, and of course green tea also adds many benefits to it, thanks to important antioxidants.
Eco-Atkins Diet
If you’ve always wanted to try the Dr. Atkins diet, but eating more meat never appealed to you, one of the best plant based diets for weight loss you can try is the Eco-Atkins. It’s definitely restrictive, but it’s also filing. It may be a low carb diet, but it allows you to get plenty of protein from plant-based foods, along with healthy fats. You can still incorporate fish and dairy into it or try it as a completely vegetarian option. You’ll get results either way.
Macrobiotic Diet
Going for natural and organic foods is always a good idea, but the macrobiotic diet emphasizes fresh and “living” food, rejecting excessive food processing. It’s one of the best plant based diets for weight loss if you want to focus on whole grains, vegetables and fruits, with very little seafood and absolutely no meat, eggs or dairy. Popularized by celebrities like Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow, the macrobiotic diet can certainly be the most expensive plant-based diet on the list.
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