Thinking of going veggie? You could experience this unexpected side effect

People become vegetarians for a variety of reasons.

It might be because you're an animal-lover or an eco-warrior, but there could also be another reason to ditch the meat. Dieters who give up meat could be more likely to lose weight than those who opt for a traditional low-calorie diet, a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition has found. Going veggie could also speed up your metabolism by reducing muscle fat, the study found. Researchers put a group of patients with type 2 diabetes on two types of diets - a vegetarian diet and a low-calorie one recommended for diabetics by the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. Each of the diets was limited to 500 calories per day, but they produced very different results. Those who went on the vegetarian diet, which included vegetables, grains, legumes, fruits, nuts and one portion of low-fat yoghurt per day, lost on average almost twice as much weight as those on the diabetic low-calorie diet. The vegetarian dieters also lost more muscle fat, which would boost metabolism. "This finding is important for people who are trying to lose weight, including those suffering from metabolic syndrome and/or type 2 diabetes," Dr Hana Kahleová, the lead author on the study, told Taylor and Francis. "But it is also relevant to anyone who takes their weight management seriously and wants to stay lean and healthy.”