High Protein Diet Is The Key To Healthy Weight Loss

When people think about weight loss, they think of restricting calories or food groups, such as carbs. And many may think that adding more protein to their diet will pack on muscle, which may lead to weight gain. But in addition to be satiating, increasing your protein intake may help you lose weight while maintaining fat-burning muscle. High-protein foods take more work to digest, metabolize, and use, which means you burn more calories processing them.

Weight loss shakes have protein in them, but they’re also high in fiber. You can get protein naturally from dairy foods eaten at strategic times during the day and it will help you put on muscle mass and lose fat. Good natural sources are egg whites, dairy, protein shakes and meat.

Adding lean meats, fish and poultry (lean chicken, turkey, salmon, sole, tuna, etc.) into your daily diet will give you a huge boost of healthy protein. An average chicken breast or salmon fillet can range from 4 ounces to 8 ounces of protein, depending on the size. Experts advise consuming between 0.5 grams and 1.0 grams of protein per pound of your body weight.

People eating low-carb and Paleo–two diets known for having higher protein intake– the popularity of protein is reigning high. Does it really help you lose weight? Here are some reasons why  you should be in taking protein to loss weight.

Protein is important because it helps you feel fuller longer. Having protein around slows down digestion making us more satisfied and less likely to go back for seconds.

Adding protein with carbohydrate-rich foods slows down the absorption of sugar from your stomach into your bloodstream, which may help keep your blood sugar from skyrocketing and ward off future cravings. Protein has a higher TEF compared to carbs and fat meaning you’re actually burning more calories to process protein than to process the other two.

According to scientific fact your body cannot effectively burn and use fat as energy if it doesn’t have help from either carbohydrate or protein. As you are losing weight, your body loses both muscle and fat.  It is important that you continue to eat enough protein in your diet. Having adequate protein coming in from your food fuels fat burning while preserving calorie-burning lean muscle.

Increase your protein needs after intense exercise, if you strength train have a high protein snack right after a training session when the muscle is sensitive to nutrients that it can use to repair and grow. One thing to realize is eating more protein alone won’t necessarily help you shed excess weight in a healthy way.

Note: if consumed in excessive amounts it can still lead to weight gain much like eating excess carbs or fat would, and could put unnecessary strain on the kidneys.