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If you want to lose weight, think vegan, and you could lose about 16 pounds in just six months.

That's the word from University of South Carolina researchers, who determined that the fastest way to lose weight is to eschew all meat and dairy products.

The study: Led by Gabrielle Turner-McGrievy, the team followed five groups of dieters for six months. Participants followed their assigned dietary restrictions for the entire study period. In addition, the first four groups participated in weekly group meetings.

• Group I ate a vegan diet, which excludes all animal products. While many of the foods were high in carbohydrates, they were foods that rated low on the glycemic index.

• Group II ate a vegetarian diet, which excludes all meat and seafood but does allow dairy products.

• Group III ate a pesco-vegetarian diet, which is a plant-based diet that excludes all meat except seafood.

• Group IV ate a mostly plant-based diet with occasional meat allowed.

• Group V ate an omnivorous diet with a mix of animal products and plant-based foods. No foods were excluded.

The results: At both the two-month and six-month marks, those on the vegan diet lost more weight than those in the other four groups. At the end of six months, those on the vegan diet lost more weight by an average of 4.3 percent, or 16.5 pounds.

In addition, those on the vegan diet showed the greatest amount of decrease in their fat and saturated fat levels and had lower BMIs.

The takeaway: Excluding animal products from your diet allows you to lose weight faster even though you eat carbohydrates, such as pasta, rice and other grains.

The study findings were published in The International Journal of Applied and Basic Nutritional Sciences.

--From the Editors at Netscape