Protein to Melt Fat

Losing weight is a combination of burning more calories than you eat, getting exercise, eating nutritious foods and eating protein, carbs and fats in a combination that encourages your body to burn more fat for energy and build muscle to produce a long, lean body.

Your body runs on three different macronutrients; fat, carbohydrates and proteins. The first thing your body will use for fuel is carbs because they are the easiest to breakdown and enter the bloodstream. Carbohydrates breakdown as sugars, will spike your blood sugar and increase the production of insulin. Research also shows that this increase in blood sugar is responsible for an inflammatory response in the body that triggers changes in the vascular system resulting in cardiovascular disease.

The next type of macronutrient your body breaks down is fat. So if you eat carbs and proteins for breakfast your body will first use the carbs for fuel and then stored fat before going to the protein for fuel.

In research released in August 2013, scientists discovered that dieters who doubled their daily allowance of protein would protect muscle loss during dieting and exercise. (1) Your muscles are calorie burning machines, so losing muscle during dieting only reduces the number of calories you need each day to keep your body running. The high protein diets used by the test subjects helped to prevent muscle loss while the subjects were losing fat.

Researchers acknowledge that eating a well balanced diet will help to improve nutrition and ensure that you receive the vitamins and minerals you need for optimal health – but upping your protein will also improve your overall calorie burn.

Protein will also help your muscles repair and build new muscle after you’ve worked out. And, because the more muscle you have the more calories you burn, it’s a good thing.

However, you can also overdose on the amount of protein you eat. So more of a good thing isn’t a great thing. When you eat too much you slow the process of building muscle and put a larger load on the kidneys to excrete the metabolic excess from the metabolism of protein.

Eating protein will also help you feel full longer because it takes longer to metabolize. Eating healthy fats has the same benefits of slow digestion and feeling full longer. Eating protein will also naturally help you stop snacking between meals or reduce your craving for unhealthy snack foods.

The amount of protein you need will vary, based on your individual body type and needs. A typical ratio of protein to fats and carbs is 40% protein with 30% fats and carbs. But those percentages can shift to 50% protein and 10% carbs depending upon your individual requirements. Protein is the secret to countering the hypoglycemic effect of eating carbs and spiking insulin. Each time you spike sugar and insulin it triggers your body to store more fat.

And, remember that when cutting your carbs it’s more important to cut the carbs from grains and keep the carbs from vegetables.

Good sources of proteins in your meals are eggs, grass fed beef, free-range, organic chicken, raw dairy products and wild-caught mercury free fish.

References:

(1) Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology: Doubling the Daily Allowance of Protein Intake with Diet and Exercise Protects Muscle Loss

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-08/foas-dtd082913.php

Resources:

Mercola: High-Protein Meals Can Help the Overweight Burn Fat

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/12/11/high-protein-meals-can-help-the-overweight-burn-fat.aspx

SheKnows: High-Protein Diet

http://www.sheknows.com/health-and-wellness/articles/805241/the-truth-about-the-protein-in-your-diet

ActiveBeat: 11 Best Protein Power Foods with Weight Loss

http://www.activebeat.com/diet-nutrition/11-best-protein-power-foods-for-healthy-living/

United Healthcare: Do High Protein Diets Cause Weight Loss

http://www.uhc.com/source4women/health_wellness_tools_resources/nutrition/high_protein_diets.htm

LiveScience: Can High-Protein Diets Help You Lose Weight

http://www.livescience.com/40882-can-high-protein-diets-help-you-lose-weight.html