Many experts suggest that the best diet for you is the one that you can stick to within the long term.

But you might ask, is vegan or keto healthier for weight loss?

You will surely find numerous articles or blogs about weight loss, as it is among the most talked about topics on the internet today.  Plus, it is a multibillion-dollar industry in the United States.

Someone might just be promoting his weight loss goals on social media or there might be a blogger who’s documenting his weight loss journey on his website.

With rising obesity rates, in both children and adults, researchers and healthcare professionals continue to look for reliable and scientifically proven ways to lose weight.

This has given birth to a wide array of weight loss plans and extreme diets, from the cabbage soup diet to the Mediterranean diet.

The ketogenic (keto) diet and the vegan diet are two of the many weight loss plans that stand in polar opposites when it comes to food strategy.

Keto Diet vs. Vegan Diet

What is keto diet? The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that emphasizes excellent fat sources, like avocado and dairy products.  It also allows protein in moderation and very few carbs.

Keto dieters are more likely to eat fish, meats, and other healthy fat sources and exclude many carb-rich foods, including grains, fruits, and vegetables from their diet. Sugar is also off-limits.

Keto foods include the following:

• meat
• fish
• eggs
• heavy cream
• butter
• cheese
• oils
• avocados
• nuts
• seeds
• low carb vegetables

What is vegan diet? A plant-based eating plan, the vegan diet focuses on whole grain, fruits and vegetables, and eliminates all products of animal origin – whether that be for food or clothing.

A vegan food list includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Rice, pasta, and breads
• Fruits and vegetables
• Legumes such as lentils, beans, and peas
• Nuts and seeds
• Vegetable oils
• Dairy alternatives such as almond milk, coconut milk, and soymilk

Both vegan and keto diets have been shown in research to lead to weight loss. Their respective rules and sustainability aspects are factors that may help you determine if either of these diets is the best diet for your long-term weight loss goals.

The Keto Diet: How Does It Work?

The keto diet is a high-fat, moderate-protein, and low-carb diet. It can be noted that the body stores carbs as glycogen, which is the body’s main energy source.

Following a keto diet basically means drastically reducing your carb intake and increasing fat intake. As your glycogen is depleted due to reduced and limited carb intake, your body loses the excess water glycogen stores, thereby allowing you to lose water weight.

After a few days, your body starts to enter into ketosis, a metabolic state in which the body burns fat and produces ketones to be used for fuel instead of carbohydrates.

In addition, increased fat intake also helps you feel fuller for longer and minimize cravings, thus also reducing your calorie intake throughout the day.

However, some keto dieters experience the so-called ketosis flu, which includes symptoms like headache, irritability, difficulty sleeping, foggy brain, and nausea, among others. Symptoms of ketosis tend to appear and subside a few days of following the diet.

Also, its restrictive nature prompts some keto dieters to turn to intermittent fasting to maintain weight loss.

The Vegan Diet: How Does It Work?

Danielle Aberman, RDN, a dietitian, said that a plant-based plan is “often low in fat and protein and overall calories so people often feel like they can eat all day and still lose weight.”

In fact, vegans have been shown in research to be thinner and have a lower body mass index (BMI), as well as cholesterol levels,  as compared with nonvegans.

Vegans also typically consume a wide array of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients, and they have lower calorie intake than nonvegans.

Although the vegan diet eliminates meat, fish, and other animal protein sources, keep in mind that there are several plant-based protein sources as well, which you can incorporate into your diet.

Possible downside of this diet can include deficiencies in essential nutrients that are abundant in products from animal origin. Thus, it is important to seek advice from your dietitian before making any changes to your diet because you might not get the critical nutrients that your body needs, like protein.  

Research

A keto diet has been shown in existing mice studies to cause improvements in weight loss, showing promising results in reducing type 2 diabetes and other obesity-related conditions.

Most research on the keto diet has been done in mice and rats only, but with its increasing popularity, human studies are being done as well.

For example, people on a low-carb diet have been found in a 2009 study to be no longer in ketosis after 6 months.

In addition, most keto-fed rats have been found in a 2017 study to lose weight, but it wasn’t maintained during the 22-week study.

This is partly because the keto diet is hard to follow in the long term. Many keto dieters stop the diet after initial success and return to their dietary preferences.

Keto dieters have also been suggested in research to lose a large amount of lean body mass—the muscles that help keep your metabolism running and burn calories. This can have a negative impact on your long-term weight loss goals.

There is a handful of research on vegan diets for weight loss as well.

For example, vegan and vegetarian diets have been shown in a 2016 review of 96 studies to be more effective for weight loss as compared with omnivorous diets.

Another study found that a plant-based diet rich in vegetable fats may help improve metabolism, making weight loss easier.

The Takeaway

The keto diet and the vegan diet are two popular diets that stand at polar opposites when it comes to food strategy, but both are known for their promising weight loss effects, especially when followed in the long term.

Many people on either of these diets experience short-term weight loss, but there’s a possibility that they are losing muscle mass.

Although these diets are effective in terms of weight loss, many people tend to stop the diet because of its restrictive nature or its possible downsides. They also find these diets difficult to sustain.

So the best weight loss diet for you is one that you can stick to in the long term and the one that works best for you. To find out, try experimenting!