Getting enough protein powers up your weight loss
10 Feb 2012

Getting enough protein powers-up your weight loss

2 mins to read
According to a new study, watching your protein intake may be the key to weight control. Online personal trainer Andrew Cate takes a closer look at the research, and shows how to make sure you get enough.


Protein and weight loss
Eating too many kilojoules is thought to be a significant contributor to the global phenomenon of rising body fat levels. One theory used to explain this is the increased intake of fat and sugar at the expense of protein. The dilution of protein in the diet might be explained by the tendency of humans to find sugar and fat highly palatable. There may also be economic factors at play, because protein can be expensive (such as the price of meat) while food manufacturers increasingly rely on cheap fats and sugars as ingredients in processed foods.

The research
A US survey found that a drop in the percentage of dietary protein from 1971 to 2006 was associated with an increase in total energy intake. A reduction in the percentage of dietary protein may reduce the effectiveness of attempts at weight loss1c. A study reported in the online journal PLoS ONE (the Public Library of Science) found that including enough protein in your diet, rather than just cutting back on kilojoules, is the key to controlling appetite and total food consumption. The researchers fed subjects a low protein (10 percent of total kilojoule intake), intermediate protein and (15 percent) and high protein diet (25 percent). They discovered subjects on the low protein diet consumed 12 percent more kilojoules over 4 days compared to those eating an intermediate protein diet. If subjects maintained this level of increased kilojoule intake observed on the low protein diet, a 1.0 kg weight increase per month could be expected.

There was no change in behaviour reported between the intermediate protein diet and the high protein diet groups. It was also found that 70 percent of the increased energy intake on the lower protein diet was attributed to an increase in snacking (between meals and not at meal times). This may be explained by that fact that subjects reported feeling hungrier in the second hour after consuming a low protein meal compared to after a higher protein meal. The researchers concluded that low protein diets will cause humans to overeat. They also lamented the fact that the modern Westernised environment encourages us to eat foods that are high in sugars and fats due to reduced costs and increased availability of low protein processed foods1j.

Getting enough protein in your diet
According to the study mentioned above, eating a diet with only 10 percent of kilojoules coming from protein is too low, while a higher intake at 25 percent of kilojoules is not needed. In fact, higher protein intakes may have associated costs to human health. It may then be safe to assume that a diet containing between 15-20 percent of kilojoules from protein is ideal for weight control. But how do you apply this information practically, and determine the right amount of protein to eat? On average, aim for around 1 gram of protein for every kilogram of body weight. For example, a 70 kilogram woman should aim to eat approximately 70 grams of protein a day, although this may vary depending on your lifestyle. The following table can help to calculate your daily protein needs.

 Activity, or other factor

 Grams of protein
per kilo of body weight

 Sedentary adult

 0.85

 Recreational exerciser, adult

 1.1

 Adult restricting kilojoules

 1.3

Food labels and nutrition websites can be used to help identify how much protein is present in the foods you eat. The list below may also be helpful by showing how much protein is contained in some common foods.

 Food  Grams of protein per serving (approx)
 Baked beans (½ cup)

 8

 Cottage cheese (½ cup)

 15

 Egg (1)

 6

 Fish, beef, chicken (90 grams)

 20

 Milk (1 cup - all types)

 8

Nuts (1/4 cup)

6

Blackmores superfruit smoothie with 1 cup of skim milk

26

Accurately calculate your protein intake

The Blackmores personal health system is an interactive online training tool that can help calculate what proportion of nutrients (such as protein) are contained in your diet. By entering data into your online food diary, the Blackmores personal health system will be able to determine exactly what percentage of your total kilojoule intake comes from protein. Click here to find out more about Blackmores Personal Health System, including details of a free seven day trial.



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