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A New Study Found a Way to Lose Weight Without Eating Less. It Starts With a Simple Dietary Switch
Experts say that making a few basic dietary changes and prioritizing nutrient-dense foods can help boost your long-term health
Aug 22, 2026
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According to a new study, losing weight doesn’t necessarily require eating less
Scientists discovered that switching to a low-fat vegan diet may help individuals lose weight. The study, which was published in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Network Open,found that those who ate mostly fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes consumed fewer calories of food per day—even though the amount they were eating did not change.
A low-fat vegan diet can reduce the energy density of food—the amount of calories in a specific weight of food—by nearly 30 percent. In a 16-week clinical trial, those following the diet consumed 357 fewer calories per day, even though they were not instructed to restrict calories
“The biggest misconception is that weight loss without calorie counting requires unusual willpower,” Hana Kahleova, MD, PhD, director of clinical research at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and one of the study’s authors, told Inc
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The randomized clinical trial looked at overweight adults who were assigned to either a low-fat vegan diet or a control group that did not need to make any changes to their diet. Neither group was given a calorie target or told to restrict intake.
The researchers then measured dietary energy density by comparing total daily energy intake with the total weight of the food consumed. Mathematically, that comes out to total energy measured in kcal per day divided by the total food weight measured in grams per day
The researchers found that the total weight of consumed food did not change significantly for either group, and, additionally, caloric intake also declined in both groups. However, the decrease was larger for those following the vegan diet
