I've been in the health & fitness industry for over 10 years, and there's countless opinions when it comes to the type of diet you should be following to see the best results...
But one thing remains certain when it comes to your diet ... how much protein you eat is extremely important.
Especially if you have goals of burning fat, building muscle ... or simply living a healthy lifestyle.
And the fact of the matter is most people don't eat enough protein to accomplish the goals they have.
There are quite a few studies showing that following a high-protein diet is one of the best methods for not only burning fat and building muscle ... but also improving multiple other aspects of your health & wellness.
So here's 5 reason why you should be eating more protein:
1. Increase Your Muscle & Strength
We'll start here ... because almost everyone knows that protein is important for your muscles. Protein, and the amino acids that protein is made of, are the building blocks of your muscles. So naturally, if you're working out and wanting to gain muscle & strength ... you need to be eating enough protein.
Eating enough protein can also help prevent you from losing muscle during a weight-loss diet. (1)
2. Boost Your Metabolism & Burn More Fat
Protein has what's called a very high thermic effect ... meaning just by eating more of it, you can increase how many calories you naturally burn per day. It has roughly a 30% thermic effect ... which means if you eat 100 calories of protein, only about 70 of those calories are used. The rest are "burned up" during the digestion process. (2)
Some studies even show upwards of an extra 300 calories burned per day ... simply by increasing your protein intake. (3)
And say you've lost the weight you needed to lose ... a high-protein diet can help tremendously in maintaining your weight loss. Even just a slight increase in protein intake for weight maintenance can reduce weight gain by up to 50%. (4)
3. Control Your Appetite & Reduce Cravings
Protein is considered the most satiating of all macronutrients. It can help you feel full ... with much less food in comparison to carbohydrates & fats. Studies show that protein not only reduces the hormone gherlin (which signals hunger) ... but it also elevates multiple hormones that signal fullness. (5)
Another study showed that simply by increasing your protein intake to 30% of your overall daily calories ... you can naturally reduce the amount you eat by 400 or more calories per day. (6) What's cool about this ... is that it occurred without even closely tracking food. All just from a higher protein intake.
Eating enough protein has also been shown to drastically reduce cravings ... specifically nighttime cravings (which is a big one for me personally). By increasing protein to just 25% of your daily calories ... you can reduce those nasty cravings. (7) Even something as simple as a high-protein breakfast can reduce cravings throughout the day & night.
4. Lower Your Blood Pressure, Stabilize Your Blood Sugar, and Improve Your Cholesterol Levels
Some would say that protein causes issues with all the above ... when that is very far from the truth. A high-protein diet can actually improve your blood pressure, reduce LDL (which is your bad cholesterol) and even stabilize your blood sugar levels ... which also helps with craving control & keeping your energy levels stable throughout the day. (8,9)
5. Strengthen Your Bones & Heal Injuries
It's sometimes said that a high-protein diet is bad for your bones ... also very far from the truth. In fact, animal protein has been shown to help maintain better bone mass ... especially as you age. It can even help lower the risk of bone diseases like osteoporosis. (10)
Protein is also the building block of not only your muscles ... but all your tissues, joints, organs, etc. So if you experience an injury ... there's plenty of data showing that increasing your protein intake will help speed up the healing process. (11,12)
In conclusion....
Protein is important for not only building muscle & losing body fat ... but also living an overall healthy lifestyle.
Most people are not eating enough protein. And by simply increasing your protein intake to just 25-40% of your daily calories ... you can unlock the benefits we discussed today.
So, if you're someone who struggles with eating enough protein, or you simply don't know how much protein you need for your specific goals ... we can help!
Our Sports Nutrition Specialists are always happy to put together a nutrition plan for you ... 100% FREE of charge. We can make eating enough protein much easier than you think. Just drop into your local Supplement Superstores location ... and we'll make sure you have the perfect plan to follow.
*This post was written by Andrew Lynn, who has a Bachelor's in Science Nutrition and Dietetics. He is also a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and NASM Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist.
1. Helms ER, Zinn C, Rowlands DS, Brown SR. A systematic review of dietary protein during caloric restriction in resistance trained lean athletes: a case for higher intakes. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2014;24(2):127-138. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2013-0054
2. Johnston CS, Day CS, Swan PD. Postprandial thermogenesis is increased 100% on a high-protein, low-fat diet versus a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet in healthy, young women. J Am Coll Nutr. 2002;21(1):55-61. doi:10.1080/07315724.2002.10719194
3. Bray GA, Redman LM, de Jonge L, et al. Effect of protein overfeeding on energy expenditure measured in a metabolic chamber. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015;101(3):496-505. doi:10.3945/ajcn.114.091769
4. Westerterp-Plantenga MS, Lejeune MP, Nijs I, van Ooijen M, Kovacs EM. High protein intake sustains weight maintenance after body weight loss in humans. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2004;28(1):57-64. doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0802461
5. Rachel L. Batterham, Helen Heffron, Saloni Kapoor, Joanna E. Chivers, Keval Chandarana, Herbert Herzog, Carel W. Le Roux, E. Louise Thomas, Jimmy D. Bell, Dominic J. Withers,Critical role for peptide YY in protein-mediated satiation and body-weight regulation, Cell Metabolism
6. Weigle DS, Breen PA, Matthys CC, et al. A high-protein diet induces sustained reductions in appetite, ad libitum caloric intake, and body weight despite compensatory changes in diurnal plasma leptin and ghrelin concentrations. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005;82(1):41-48. doi:10.1093/ajcn.82.1.41
7. Leidy HJ, Tang M, Armstrong CL, Martin CB, Campbell WW. The effects of consuming frequent, higher protein meals on appetite and satiety during weight loss in overweight/obese men. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2011;19(4):818-824. doi:10.1038/oby.2010.203
8. Altorf-van der Kuil W, Engberink MF, Brink EJ, et al. Dietary protein and blood pressure: a systematic review. PLoS One. 2010;5(8):e12102. Published 2010 Aug 11. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0012102
9. Appel LJ, Sacks FM, Carey VJ, et al. Effects of Protein, Monounsaturated Fat, and Carbohydrate Intake on Blood Pressure and Serum Lipids: Results of the OmniHeart Randomized Trial. JAMA. 2005;294(19):2455–2464. doi:10.1001/jama.294.19.2455
10. Hannan, M.T., Tucker, K.L., Dawson-Hughes, B., Cupples, L.A., Felson, D.T. and Kiel, D.P. (2000), Effect of Dietary Protein on Bone Loss in Elderly Men and Women: The Framingham Osteoporosis Study. J Bone Miner Res, 15: 2504-2512.
11. Frankenfield D. Energy expenditure and protein requirements after traumatic injury. Nutr Clin Pract. 2006;21(5):430-437. doi:10.1177/0115426506021005430
12. Russell L. The importance of patients' nutritional status in wound healing. Br J Nurs. 2001;10(6 Suppl):S42-S49. doi:10.12968/bjon.2001.10.Sup1.5336
