Higher protein intake helps with weight loss
Most of us know the importance of watching what we eat for weight management. This ranges from simple tactics such as only eating when hungry to more elaborate as logging food intake. Personally, I use the My Fitness Pal app often. I enjoy monitoring how much protein I consume. I try to intake at least 100 grams of protein daily.
Research demonstrates that keeping protein intake around 1.6g/kg of body weight daily will help maintain our lean muscle mass as we age. The prevention of sacropenia (age related muscle loss) is the key to longevity, because it keeps us strong to do the activities we love.
Focusing on increased daily protein intake also contributes to fat loss.
A recent randomized control trial (referenced here) demonstrated that adding 20 grams of extra protein daily resulted in an additional 2 to 5 pounds of fat loss during 8-weeks - even though total daily calories were more!
In this study, 60 older women (ages 50-80) who were overweight or had obesity were placed on a caloric deficit of about 500 calories from their maintenance calories for 8-weeks. Their basic diet macros were: 140g carbs, 50g protein, 50g fat.
There were three groups:
One group followed the diet exactly - they cut 500 calories per day from their diet
The two other groups also followed the same diet, but they added an extra 20 grams of 2 different types of whey protein powder each day, which added an extra 125 calories daily.
The cool thing is that the protein supplement groups did not have to diet as hard. They ate more calories each day (from protein) for the 8-weeks. Having this extra protein made their diet easier because the protein helped with feelings of fullness.
The surprising results were that the extra protein groups lost significantly more weight and fat than the control group, yet they consumed more calories in total: the baseline group lost 1.5lbs, whereas the additional protein group lost 3.2 to 5.4lbs. And all they did was add a 20g protein shake each day. Imagine if they had added daily exercise!
Takeaway: when you prioritize protein you are able to eat slightly more each day and still achieve your fat loss goals. Even if you are not on a diet, adequate protein intake (along with resistance training) is vital for the prevention of sacropenia (muscle loss).
Photo credit: Meg Kristina Photography
References:
Sun, Y., Ling, C., Liu, L., Zhang, J., Wang, J., Tong, X., Hidayat, K., Chen, M., Chen, X., Zhou, H., Xu, J., Qin, L., Zhu, W., & Yang, J. (2022). Effects of Whey Protein or Its Hydrolysate Supplements Combined with an Energy-Restricted Diet on Weight Loss: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Older Women. Nutrients, 14(21), 4540. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14214540
Campbell, B (July 2023). Does Adding Extra Whey Protein to a Caloric Deficit Cause Greater Fat Loss in Older Women? Body By Science.
