What are the benefits of eating high protein diet ? | Diet
Protein is an essential part of a healthy diet, this macronutrient helps keep muscles strong and can also play a role in metabolism and appetite! Research shows that getting more of these nutrients in your diet can do more than just help you lose weight. Keep reading to learn the many benefits of what more protein in your diet can do for you!
Benefit #1 – Eating protein helps you burn more calories
Eating protein-rich foods helps you burn more calories. Protein has a thermic effect on the body which means the body expends energy or burns calories during the digestion process. Compared to other foods, such as carbohydrates that have the same caloric value, protein actually has a greater thermic effect.
A study, completed on ten normal healthy weight women, examined the energy expenditure of three meals of equal calories, including a high protein meal, a high carbohydrate meal, and a high fat meal. The energy expenditure of the high protein diet was 261 +/- 59, compared with less than half the amount by the high protein diet with values of 92 +/- 67 and 97 +/- 71 kilojoules.
Benefit #2 – Eating protein reduces appetite and keeps appetite under control
A major benefit of eating a high protein diet is the reduction of appetite and hunger between meals. A study, conducted on twenty healthy women, compared the effects of hunger, satiety and subsequent food intake when given the following snack items: high protein yogurt, high fat crackers or high fat chocolate snack.
The results showed that eating a high-protein yogurt breakfast reduced midday hunger compared to chocolate and delayed it by about 30 minutes compared to chocolate and about 20 minutes compared to high-fat crackers. But eating a high-protein yogurt snack led to eating 100 fewer calories at the next meal than other snacks. Subjects were not only more satisfied, they were more fulfilled.
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This research shows that eating a low-calorie, high-protein food such as yogurt improves appetite control and satiety and reduces subsequent food intake. How would you adapt this to suit your needs? Eat smaller more frequent high protein snacks or smaller meals between larger meals. Fill up on high-protein non-fat yogurt, eat a whey protein shake, or eat hummus with a veggie stick.
Benefit #3 – Maintain a lean body, burn more fat
Eating a diet rich in protein can help maintain and build lean muscle, but it can also help you burn fat. Protein helps maintain lean muscle, while limiting carbohydrates can help your body burn more fat, even if you're following a calorie-reduced diet plan. A recent study found that eating a high protein diet (a calorie-reduced diet) while in an energy deficit helps maintain fat-free mass!
In a recent controlled trial, participants were randomly assigned to one of three high-protein diets for 31 days: 0.8 g/kg/d, 1.6 g/kg/d, or 2.4 g/kg/d. A 10-day weight maintenance period was followed by a 21-day low-calorie diet of 40%.
At the end of the trial, participants lost an average of 3.2 kg of body weight during the energy-deficient diet regardless of protein intake, but the proportion of weight loss due to loss of fat-free mass was lower and fat mass loss was greater among those consuming 1.6 and 2.4 g/kg/d of protein.
Additionally, those who followed a high protein diet had a greater response to muscle protein synthesis, or muscle building, than those who consumed the lowest amount of protein per day.
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