How Protein Can Help You Lose Weight and Why It’s Beneficial for Weight Loss?

Protein is the most essential nutrient for losing weight and achieving a better-looking body. A high-protein intake boosts metabolism, reduces hunger, and alters several weight-regulating hormones. Protein can help you lose weight and belly fat through various mechanisms.

How Protein Affects Hormones that Control Weight

Your weight is actively regulated by your brain, particularly by an area called the hypothalamus. Your brain processes various signals to determine when and how much to eat. Among the most crucial signals for your brain are hormones that change in response to food.

A high-Protein intake increases levels of satiety (appetite-reducing) hormones like GLP-1, peptide YY, and cholecystokinin, while it lowers the levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin. By replacing carbs and fat with Protein, you can reduce hunger hormones and boost several satiety hormones. This leads to a significant reduction in hunger, which is the main reason protein helps you lose weight. It allows you to eat fewer calories naturally.

Digesting and Metabolizing Protein Burns Calories

After eating, some calories are used to digest and metabolize the food. This is often referred to as the thermal effect of food (TEF). While not all sources agree on the exact numbers, it’s clear that Protein has a much higher thermal effect (20-30%) compared to carbs (5-10%) and fat (0-3%).

If we assume a 30% thermal effect for protein, it means that out of 100 calories from Protein, only 70 usable calories remain.

Protein Helps Prevent Muscle Loss and Metabolic Slowdown

Losing weight doesn’t always mean losing fat. When you lose weight, muscle mass also decreases. However, what you actually want to lose is body fat, both subcutaneous fat (under the skin) and visceral fat (around organs). Losing muscle is an unwanted side effect of weight loss for most people.

Another side effect of weight loss is that your metabolic rate decreases. In other words, you burn fewer calories than you did before losing weight. Eating plenty of protein can reduce muscle loss, helping to keep your metabolic rate high as you lose body fat. Strength training is another key factor that can reduce muscle loss and metabolic slowdown while losing weight.

For this reason, a high-protein intake and heavy strength training are two incredibly important components of an effective fat loss plan. They not only help keep your metabolism high, but they also ensure that what lies beneath the fat looks good. Without protein and strength training, you might end up looking “skinny-fat” instead of fit and lean.

How Much Protein is Optimal?

The Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) for protein is only 46 grams for the average woman and 56 grams for the average man. This amount may be enough to prevent deficiency but is far from optimal if you’re trying to lose weight (or gain muscle).

Most studies on protein and weight loss have expressed protein intake as a percentage of calories. According to these studies, aiming for 30% of calories from protein seems to be very effective for weight loss. You can calculate the number of grams by multiplying your calorie intake by 0.075. For example, on a 2000-calorie diet, you would eat 150 grams of protein (2000 * 0.075 = 150 grams).

You can also aim for a specific number based on your weight. For example, aiming for 0.7-1 gram of protein per pound of lean mass (1.5-2.2 grams per kilogram) is a common recommendation.

It’s best to spread your protein intake throughout the day by eating protein with every meal. Keep in mind that these numbers don’t have to be precise; anything within the 25-35% calorie range should be effective.

5 Reasons How Protein Can Help You Lose Weight

1. Protein Keeps You Full and Satisfied: Protein is crucial because it helps you feel full for longer. Having protein around slows down digestion, making you feel more satisfied and less likely to go back for seconds. If this happens over several days, your calorie savings can aid in weight loss.
2. Protein Combines Well with Carbs: Combining protein with carbohydrate-rich foods slows the absorption of sugar from your stomach into your bloodstream, helping keep your blood sugar from spiking and preventing future cravings.
3. Protein Requires More Energy to Process: The “thermal effect of food” (TEF) is the energy we use to digest food into small, absorbable components. Protein has a higher TEF compared to carbs and fat, meaning you burn more calories processing protein than the other two.
4. Protein Promotes Fat Burning: It might be surprising, but it’s a scientific fact that your body cannot effectively burn and use fat as energy without help from carbohydrates or protein. As you lose weight, your body loses both muscle and fat. During this process, it’s crucial to continue getting enough protein in your diet. Adequate protein intake from your meals helps in preserving calorie-burning lean muscle while aiding in fat burning.
5. Protein Supports Muscle Repair and Growth: After intense exercise, your protein needs increase, so it’s beneficial to boost your protein intake on the days you work out. Additionally, if you strength train, consider having a high-protein snack right after your training session when the muscle is sensitive to nutrients it can use to repair and grow.

One important thing to realize is that simply eating more protein won’t help you lose excess weight in a healthy way. Consumed in excessive amounts, protein can still lead to weight gain just like eating too many carbs or fats, and it can place unnecessary strain on your kidneys over the long term.