PROTEIN AND FAT LOSS Diets high in protein and low in fat promote greater weight loss than diets high in carbohydrate and low in fat. Period. That is, simply eating protein instead of carbohydrate whilst DOING NOTHING will burn more calories. There are two major mechanisms by which this action takes place. First, the thermogenic impact of protein is significantly higher than that for carbs, because the body has no storage capacity for protein and therefore needs to metabolically process it immediately. The thermogenic effect is the increase in energy expenditure above baseline following consumption i.e. the energy required for digestion, absorption, and disposal of ingested nutrients. Several studies point towards the empirical validity of this process though many fail to demonstrate weight loss – not to worry though, because most of these studies were carried out for too short a period of time but over periods of months or years, this difference becomes significant, both clinically and statistically. Second, protein intake leads to greater weight loss due to increased feelings of satiety – that is, how ‘full’ you feel after meals. Evidence suggests that higher protein diets decrease energy intake at subsequent meals compared to lower protein diets due to subjective sensations of ‘fullness,’ in sharp contrast to high glycemic carb intake, which spikes blood sugar levels and leaves you feeling hungry after only an hour or two. Moral of this story? If fat loss is your goal, replace your carbs with protein during the main meals of the day – if chicken, rice and veg is your usual thing, replace the rice with an extra portion of chicken and watch the weight go. (Note IIFYM followers – this is just one reason why a ‘calorie’ is not a ‘calorie’ – the internal implications of macronutrient intake vary greatly).
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 18:43:04 +0000
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