How Protein Can Unlock Weight Loss

Protein is an important nutrient in your diet, but we can often underestimate just how important it is, especially when it comes to weight management.

Most of the foods we tend to snack on are full of carbs, fat, and sugar. Think about those salty, fatty chips or the carb-rich, sugary cookie you reach for when your stomach starts to growl.

While these foods are good in the moment, they aren’t doing a lot to support your body and energy levels as you go about your day.

What happens is, your blood sugar and insulin spike and your energy levels go up, but there is nothing there to stabilize that energy, so you crash within a couple of hours of your snack or meal.

They missing key is protein. Protein helps to fill you up, keep you satiated, and makes you stronger. Read on to learn the science behind protein and weight loss.

It starts with your hormones

A protein rich diet will actually affect your body on a metabolic level. You have hormones in your body that make you feel hungry as well as satiated (full).

When you eat protein, the nutrient triggers your satiety hormones such as GLP-1 and leptin. At the same time, it lowers ghrelin levels, the hormone responsible for hunger.

Yep, you heard that right. Protein is making you feel fuller in multiple ways. In fact, it is recommended that you load up on protein earlier in the day to stop you from overeating later on.

Research shows that a protein rich breakfast can reduce your cravings and even eat fewer calories overall. In one study, people who ate 30% of their calories as protein ate over 400 calories less overall.

Protein builds muscles

Protein has a higher thermic effect than other nutrients like carbs and fat. A thermic effect means that the energy it takes to break down a nutrient raises the temperature.

This thermic effect also increases your metabolism. A higher metabolism will help you to burn more calories throughout the day, even when your body is at rest, as much as 100 per day in fact.

A higher metabolism is great when you are trying to lose weight, but it does come with consequences. Your body doesn’t discriminate about what it burns, and significant weight loss is often accompanied by muscle loss.

In addition, your metabolism will actually reduce as you lose weight, causing your body to burn even more muscle for energy.

However, protein intake can actually help reduce muscle loss. Protein can also help you to build muscle, getting the most of your workouts. Maintaining or gaining muscle throughout weight loss will help you to keep a higher metabolic rate.

How much protein do you really need?

Most health professionals recommend 45g per day for women and 55g per day for men, and this is a great place to start.

Adding protein to your diet can be challenging if you aren’t used to it. Here are a few easy and readily available sources of protein you can add to your diet:

• Meats (22g per 3oz serving)

• Fish (19g per 3oz serving)

• Eggs (6g per egg)

• Legumes (8g per cup)

Like I mentioned earlier, it is good to get into the practice of including protein in every meal, making it easier to ingest enough and making you feel satiated and satisfied all day, even reducing late night snacking!

Loading up on protein in the morning will also set you up for your day, stabilizing your blood sugar and keeping your energy stable.

When you are trying to lose weight or gain muscle, you will want to start increasing your intake of protein more than the minimum recommendations. Studies suggest that making 30% of your calories protein will help you reach your goals.

Converting calories to grams is helpful if you are weighing your food. Use this formula to figure out what’s right for your diet:

[Calories In] x 0.075 = Protein (g)

For example, on a 1800 calorie budget, you should be eating 135g of protein.

For some, counting calories and measuring food is not helpful and can actually be detrimental to your mental health. It can also be harder to maintain a habit if it doesn’t fit into your lifestyle.

If that is true for you, don’t sweat the specifics and just aim to add a serving of protein-rich foods to every meal.