How Can A High Protein Diet Help In Weight Loss?

High protein diets have been shown to help people lose weight and body fat. The reason for this is quite simple- high protein diets tend to lead to an increase in metabolism, which results in increased energy expenditure.

This method of weight loss may be beneficial, especially when paired with exercise.

a variety of high protein foods on a table
A high protein diet has been shown to increase metabolism and help with weight loss. Plus, protein is satisfying and helps you feel fuller longer.

Protein Builds Muscle and Burns More Calories

Muscle growth: Protein builds muscle, and is crucial to maintaining muscle mass as you age. A high protein diet helps with weight loss because the body becomes more efficient at using its calories, which means that instead of burning less (as would be expected), it burns off more.

Protein Suppresses Your Appetite

Appetite suppression: Dietary protein is associated with reduced appetite sugar cravings, compared with carbohydrate or fat. The mechanisms responsible for this effect are not well known, but there is evidence that protein stimulates certain gut hormones that act to reduce appetite.

Protein also seems to be more satiating than carbohydrate or fat, meaning that after ingesting it you feel fuller for longer. This may reduce overall calorie intake throughout the day, thus promoting weight loss.

Protein Increases Your Metabolism

Increase in metabolism: A high protein diet, especially when consumed along with exercise, has been shown to increase resting metabolic rate. This means that the body will burn more calories during normal daily functions.

The ability of a high protein diet to promote weight loss is attributed to this increased calorie burning, which results from the body utilizing its existing energy sources more efficiently.

As you can see, it is quite clear that the weight loss effects associated with a high protein diet are due to an increase in metabolism and calorie expenditure.

The second important factor here is appetite suppression – if we feel full for longer periods of time, we may eat less throughout the day.

If we decrease our daily caloric intake, we will lose weight. This is why these two factors work hand in hand with one another, to produce the most effective type of diet for losing 15 pounds.

How Weight Loss Works

Weight Loss = CICO

CICO means “Calories In, Calories Out.” This is how weight loss really works, and the mechanism by which a high protein diet promotes weight loss. If we want to lose weight, then we need to eat fewer calories than what our body burns per day.

Remember that as described above, a major aspect of why a high protein diet helps with weight loss is its ability to increase metabolism and the resulting increase in calorie expenditure.

Thus, eating more protein results in the body burning more calories per day – which means that you are decreasing your caloric intake by default.

CICO + Exercise = Weight Loss

So far we have discussed how a high protein diet promotes weight loss. But this is where exercise comes in – a high protein diet paired with exercise is the most effective way to lose weight, and it has been shown to help people maintain their weight loss in the long term.

Eating more protein while exercising will enhance your ability to build muscle mass even when on a caloric deficit.

Consuming more protein from quality sources such as whey protein, and engaging in regular exercise will result in increased muscle mass and strength – which means that you will burn more calories throughout the day.

This is due to an increased basal metabolic rate, as well as the fact that muscles require more energy than fat to function properly.

Thus, a high protein diet combined with exercise is the best way to lose weight.

This will not only help you burn more calories, but also increase your muscle mass and strength – resulting in an increased volume of muscle tissue that requires energy to maintain itself, which means that you are burning off even more calories throughout the day.

Combine High Protein Diet With Exercise For Weight Loss

Cardio

Cardio exercise: Not all weight loss is created equal, and it's important to note that different activities result in different kinds of weight loss. Cardio will burn fat, but won't necessarily help you build muscle mass – this is why high protein diets are so useful when combined with aerobic activity.

The most effective way to lose weight with cardio is to do HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), or high-intensity cardio workouts.

HIIT involves short bursts of high-intensity activity, followed by a low-intensity break or rest period – this type of workout has been shown to burn fat more effectively than steady state cardio.

For example, a 30 minute HIIT workout at a high intensity would include 10 minutes of activity, followed by a 10-minute rest period. Repeat this cycle 3 times for an effective 30 minute workout that will help you burn fat and lose weight – without the use of protein supplements.

Weight Training

Weight training: Progressive overload is another very important concept when it comes to weight loss. This means that you need to build strength to create the stimulus for your muscles to grow, and thus burn more calories throughout the day – even at rest.

This will also help us build muscle mass as described above.

By building muscle mass, you will burn more calories even at rest – thus the combination of a high protein diet and exercise will increase your metabolic rate as well as promote weight loss by decreasing your caloric intake.

Weight training is also very important for bone health, as it helps to build and maintain our skeletal muscle system. In addition to all of the other great benefits of resistance training, this means that you will burn more calories throughout the day – even while you sleep!

Thus a high protein diet combined with weight training is the most effective way to lose weight and keep it off in the long term.