Why Choose A High Protein Diet To Lose Weight?

The need to lose weight has become so strong in the recent times that people do not dread the thought of maneuvering and controlling their diets and stick to a strict fitness regime. But the question is, do they follow a proper diet at all? There is a strong misconception amongst many people regarding the concept of a proper diet for losing weight. People consider that eating food that has fat and carbohydrates or even protein in it can be hazardous for the health. Hence, they end up in an all-fruits diet or an only veggies diet. But the fact is that, if you maintained a high protein diet, you can easily lose weight.

A diet that is high in lean and low fat proteins is better than a no-protein, only veggies or an all-fruit diet. This is because the healthy proteins can maintain the lean tissues in your body and instead of the protein, they facilitate in burning the fat as fuel for the body. Thus, your appetite will be curbed and effectively slim you down.

Not only a high protein diet can curb hunger, but it can also enhance your satiety as well as optimize your body composition. There is yet another reason why high proteins are more effective in losing weight than avoiding them, is because the proteins take more time to be digested. Hence, in order to digest them, the body will metabolize more. As a result, there will be more calories burnt in this process. Because of all these qualities of a high lean-protein diet, it is chosen by body builders as well as marathoners to stay healthy, fit and lean.¹

Research has proven that those who have maintained a high protein diet for a long time have significantly lost weight than those who maintain a medium protein diet. It came up in the studies that not an outrageous amount, but 21.2% of calorie intake in a daily diet or 100 g of protein a day can make all the difference. Maintenance of high protein diet for 6 months has been seen to cause big-time weight loss of up to 20 pounds. However, it must also be mentioned that to maintain this lost 20 pounds and make sure that the lost weight does not come back, the high protein diet must be maintained for at least 12 to 24 months at a stretch.²

There was yet another research that came up with an astonishing result regarding high protein diet to lose weight. People who started their day with an egg in the breakfast ate lesser calories the rest of the day, in comparison to those who ate cereals and croissants for breakfast. This difference was that those who ate eggs, consumed 3150 calories; those who ate cereals, consumed 3450 calories; and those who had croissants, consumed food worth 3600 calories in the entire day. Hence, it is logically proven that high protein (eggs), can curb appetite than lower proteins and carbs. According to a study published in Nutrition Metabolism, it was found that those who increased their intake of protein by 30% consumed 450 pounds less calories a day and lost 11 pounds in 12 weeks.³

Atkins is also known as the big-time weight loss that bans carbohydrates like flour, sugar and potatoes. However, an Atkins diet allows protein diet. In the recent studies, it has been proven that rather than completely banning the carbohydrates, incorporating a little multigrain pasta, whole wheat bread will be good, as it will fill the stomach, yet not be full on calories. A minimum amount of carbohydrate is needed to make sure that the body is supplied with the required amount of fiber; otherwise, with insufficient fiber and nutritional deficiency, the body will encounter constipation, gradual headaches and also bad breath. But it is not the low carb that is being talked about in here, it is how effective high protein diet is for losing weight and that is the factor of concern.⁴ Hence, a high protein diet that would be useful for you in order to lose weight must include:

In between the time from one meal to another, you can munch on a handful of almonds. It is a greater option than choosing the sugar coated traditional snacks, which will simply add on to your weight. In fact, almonds will enhance your health with its vitamin properties and therefore, choose this high protein snack as a part of your diet to lose weight.

Start your day with an egg and have some pumpkin seeds in any form along with your meal. Both of these foods are rich in protein will make you feel full; and hence you will not desire to eat for a long time which will enable weight loss.

Consume as much as milk and milk products as possible, but make sure that they are low in fat. Choose the skimmed milk versions and all the low fat products of milk. You can even have soy milk, tofu and low fat cottage cheese to lose weight.

Choose a wide range of protein rich lentils, beans and nuts and include them in your diet for faster weight loss. Incorporating these protein rich foods with a little carbohydrate is a great idea to compensate both and have them supplied to the body. Choose peanut butter and whole wheat bread, kidney beans with a little brown rice and you will enjoy a better digestion as well as metabolism. You can also use the almond butter, as it is also a rich source of high protein and helps keep you satiated and enable weight loss.

These high protein foods are probably the most important part of the entire diet to lose weight. You must have a good deal of fish and meat that is a supply of 100 g of meat in your daily diet is a must for losing weight. You must distribute the amount in each of your meals. The meat must be lean meat that can be from a grass fed lean goat, lean beef, fat free young chicken, skinless white chicken or even turkey, pork tenderloin or any non-fatty fish. These protein rich foods help in building the lean muscles and the supply of protein from meat and fish is of high quality, first line proteins that will facilitate in burning the fat in your body and thus losing weight.⁵

When you travel to the grocery store, make sure you have these high protein foods in your shopping list:

• Ground Lean Turkey Breast.
• Canned Tuna or Salmon.
• Lean Skirt Steak.
• Canned Beans (lentil, black, pinto etc.).
• Large Chicken Breast.
• Natural Peanut Butter.
• Fresh or Frozen Fish (tilapia, salmon etc.).

Thus, you can see how a high protein diet benefits in weight loss. However, when you plan your high protein diet, make sure that they have all the nutrient supplies, such as carbohydrates and minerals, in moderate proportion. This way, you will be able to manage your weight and also lose the excess weight through proper metabolism. But, disproportionate diets might lead to kidney failure or liver damage due to excessive pressure on them and also if, instead of lean protein, fatty proteins are consumed, it will block the heart.

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Also Read:

• Is High Protein Diet Good or Bad for You?