MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Brie Turner-McGrievy, Ph.D., M.S., R.D. Assistant Professor University of South Carolina; Arnold School of Public Health Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior Columbia, SC 29208 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Turner-McGrievy: Several observational studies have examined differences in weight-related outcomes among individuals following vegan, vegetarian, pesco-vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, or omnivorous diets. These studies have found lower body weights and less weight gain over time among vegans as compared to other groups. However, no randomized controlled trials have tested the relationship between these diets and body weight. So the goal of our study was to determine the effect of varying plant-based diets on weight loss. Our study found that a similar relationship of weight loss was found among the five diet groups that has been observed in epidemiological studies, with weight loss going from greatest in the vegan group followed by vegetarian, pesco-vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, and omnivorous. At six months, the vegan group lost significantly more weight (-7.5 ± 4.5%) than the omnivorous (-3.1 ± 3.6%, P=0.03), semi-vegetarian (-3.2 ± 3.8%, P=0.03), and pesco-vegetarian (-3.2 ± 3.4%, P=0.03) groups. (more…)