An interesting development.

Most vegetarians aren't in it for the weight loss - the health benefits, the care for animals, and the boasting rights, sure, but if you're hellbent on losing a bit of weight, people don't immediately jump to a veggie diet. Some, if any, will instead opt for the Mediterranean diet if they're keen on shedding a few pounds. Comprised mainly of fruit, veg, fish, nuts, and poultry (rather than red meat), the med diet takes its inspiration from the eating habits of the people of Greece and Italy way back in the 40s and 50s. Basically, it's pretty clean eating, it's balanced, and you get all your nutrients. As it turns out though, following a vegetarian diet could actually have the same effect when it comes to losing weight. A new study reported by Reuters shows that people who followed a veggie diet actually lost slightly more weight than people who followed the Mediterranean diet. 107 overweight but healthy people were put on each diet for six months and their progress was tracked. The average person lost 1.88kg on a veggie diet and 1.77kg on a med diet. Nice. That being said though, no matter what diet you're following, if you're not eating healthy in general, you won't see any progress. It's incredibly easy to be a vegetarian who instantly replaced all meat with cheese (guilty), but if you want to see actual changes in your body, following a balanced diet is most important. Still though, nice to know veggies can save the animals and lose a few extra pounds if they're any way that inclined.