The Scoop On Protein

Losing weight is simple.  And complicated.  

Straightforward.  But with plenty of nuance.

Wait, what?

It all comes down to calories in vs calories out, right?  Or maybe don’t eat meat.  Or maybe JUST eat meat?

Let’s simplify things and focus on one of the factors that is often overlooked in the weight loss discussion: protein intake.  

Protein gets all the love in the world when it comes to building muscle, and deservedly so, but it can have an even greater impact on fat loss.

Calories from protein can serve your body in different ways than from fat or carbohydrate.  A calorie is just a unit of measurement – so inherently all calories are equal.  But it’s a little like saying running a mile on a flat surface is the same as running a mile straight up a mountain.  Yes, technically that mile was the same distance - but it sure doesn’t feel like that.  And those two scenarios are drastically different on your body and its energy expenditure.

Here’s how protein is different.

Protein has the highest Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)

TEF is the amount of energy that is lost as heat during the digestive process.  Ever get the Meat Sweats after a high protein meal?  That’s the Thermic Effect of Food at work.  Protein has by far the highest TEF of the macronutrients.  

Here is the estimated breakdown:

Protein: 20-30%

Fat: 0-5%

Carbohydrate: 5-10%

That’s a pretty big discrepancy.  

This means if you consume 500 calories of Protein (125 grams) potentially 150 of those calories are burned off as heat during digestion.  That may not seem like a lot, but over the course of a year that would equal 54,750 calories, or the equivalent of 15 pounds of fat.  All things being equal, if you’re eating more protein you are burning more calories.

Protein preserves lean muscle tissue through Muscle Protein Synthesis

One of the pitfalls of lowering your calories while dieting is the potential for muscle loss.  If your calories (and more specifically carbs and protein) get too low than your body can resort to breaking down muscle tissue for energy.  

In fact, your body is in a constant flux of losing and building new muscle.  There is a constant tug of war between the mechanisms of Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS) and Muscle Protein Breakdown (MPB).  The goal is to always have MPS outpace MPB – this will retain your hard-earned muscle and even help build more.  

Two things maximally stimulate MPS – resistance training and ingesting dietary protein .  

Put simply – lift weights and eat protein.

But what if you don’t care about muscle and just want to lose fat?  Well, if you’re trying to lose fat, then you should care about building muscle even more.

More skeletal muscle results in a higher Basal Metabolic Rate, which is the minimum calories your burn throughout the day while at rest.

Your hard-earned muscle works for you even when you’re not in the gym – that fat around your waist does not.

Eating protein increases satiety and keeps you feeling full throughout the day

High protein meals have been show to increase satiety more than those high in fat or carbohydrate.

This can be attributed to the aforementioned Thermic Effect and also how protein affects the dynamic duo of hunger hormones – Ghrelin and Leptin.  

Ghrelin is secreted in your stomach and signals your brain that you are hungry while leptin does the exact opposite, signaling that you are full.

Ingesting protein has been shown to decrease secretion of ghrelin (the “I’m Hungry” hormone) when compared to fat and carbohydrate

Hunger management is one of the biggest factors in successful weight loss.  If you are constantly hungry it does not matter what kind of “diet” you are on – it will not succeed long term.

Protein is going to be an important part of any fat loss journey.  Overall calories matter but a simple way to make progress is to increase your overall protein intake.

Do that, and watch your gains go up and the scale go down.

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