Losing weight could be as simple as replacing some of the sausages, beef and bacon in your diet with legumes, according to a recent study.
Scientists at the University of Helsinki instructed 51 Finnish men, aged 20 to 65, to reduce the amount of red and processed meat they were eating to just 200g (7oz) per week, equivalent to five per cent of their total protein intake.
Meanwhile, the men ate more legumes – specifically, peas and faba beans, equivalent to 20 per cent of their protein intake – and continued eating chicken, fish, eggs, and other protein sources as normal.
Beyond this swap, the men were not told to eat less food or restrict their calories in any way. But, after just six weeks, they had lost an average of a kilo (2.2lbs) of weight.
“This was surprising, because we didn’t aim for weight loss,” Prof Anne-Maria Pajari, a molecular nutritionist and senior author of the study, told BBC Science Focus. “We actually told the volunteers to follow their everyday diets, and we just controlled their red and processed meat, and legume foods.”
Legumes are already associated with healthy body weight, said Pajari, but the scientists still didn’t expect to see such a change in just six weeks. And the changes didn’t stop there.
By the end of the study, the men who had eaten legumes had lower levels of total and LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol, suggesting that the diet swap reduced their risk of heart disease.
At the same time, the men’s iron levels improved, which is surprising given that red meat is considered to be a good source of dietary iron.
And, Pajari said, the dietary swap was popular among participants. Only one volunteer dropped out of the study, which she said was a personal record.
“I’m pretty happy with the results,” said Pajari. “This is something that every man could do. They could cut their red and processed meat consumption and eat more plant-based foods.
“Even that is a very, very meaningful step towards a healthier and more sustainable diet. For your own health and the planet, rather small changes can make a big difference.”
The scientists decided to focus on men in this study, rather than including people of different genders, because men tend to eat more meat than women.
Pajari said that, in Finland, the average man eats double the amount of meat than the average woman, making men "a more vulnerable group" when it comes to red and processed meat consumption.
The study also included a control group: another 51 men who ate 760g (27oz) of red and processed meat per week – accounting for a quarter of their total protein intake – and no legumes.
These men didn’t see improvements to their blood cholesterol or iron levels, but they did also lose some weight – just 300g (0.6lbs), on average. But Pajari said that was just a side-effect of being involved in a dietary trial.
“When you enter a dietary trial, you become conscious about what you actually eat,” she explained. “It’s such a sensitive thing. People make slightly healthier choices, even if they were told not to.”
Overall, Pajari hoped that some men might consider swapping out some of the red and processed meat in their diets with peas, beans and lentils, for the sake of their own health and the health of the planet.
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