How Protein Helps You Lose Unwanted Weight!

If you are someone interested in weight loss and physical fitness, then the word protein is going to be of special interest to you, but just exactly what is it? Protein is a macronutrient, one of the nutrients our bodies need in large quantities because it provides us with energy. These macronutrients consist of fat, carbohydrate, and protein. The body relies on protein to build healthy muscles, skin, and bones.

If you are someone who would like to shed some excess weight, then eating a diet that includes protein-rich foods can help increase your satiety, making it more likely that you will consume fewer overall calories, which can promote weight loss. Protein-rich foods like whey protein are also key to building lean body mass, which helps to boost your metabolism, causing your body to burn calories more efficiently. Let’s learn some more about how this system works!

When you consume a meal, your body employs calories to digest, absorb, and metabolise it, which is called the thermic effect of food. Protein is able to produce a higher thermic effect than carbs and fat are able to. During digestion around 25% of protein calories are burned, whereas carbohydrate calories burn around 8% and the thermic effect of fat is just 2%.

When your body is losing weight, both fat and lean muscle mass are lost. People who are overweight or obese are in danger of losing 20-30% of their body’s muscle mass while undergoing weight loss.  Metabolically active muscle tissue burns more calories than fat, so having less muscle tissue means slower burning of calories, increasing the difficulty of losing weight. It is possible to counteract this effect by performing resistance training during your workout routine as well as following a high-protein diet to prevent muscle mass from being lost. Your body’s composition will be improved by preventing your metabolism from slowing down. Maintaining a protein intake above 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day during periods of weight loss is recommended.

Eating a high-protein diet can boost your metabolism because of its higher level of thermic effect and its ability to keep lean muscle mass from being lost. This can actually result in your body burning more calories during the day, even when you are sleeping! High protein diets increase the daily energy expenditure by 60 to 190 calories, giving your metabolism a boost.

One of the problems many people trying to lose weight face is the rapid regaining of weight they have already lost, in some cases over half of the lost weight was regained in just two years, while in five years nearly 80% was regained! Adding extra protein to your diet can stop that demoralising regaining of the weight you worked so hard to lose in the first place! An increase of 17% of protein in your daily calories has been found to decrease the regaining of weight by over 50%!

Protein is the most important macronutrient your body can use to shed that unwanted extra weight!