Can protein help you lose weight????

One of my clients asked if she increased her protein intake, would it help her lose weight? So I thought I would answer that question here. I know many people think that they only need to increase their protein intake during bodybuilding or when trying to sculpt lean muscles. So can protein really help you lose weight???

 

 

Protein is a structural molecule assembled out of amino acids, many of which the body can’t produce on its own. Animal foods are usually high in protein, containing all the essential amino acids that we need.

If your diet consists of animal products like meat, fish, eggs, or other forms of dairy then you just might be getting the recommended amount of protein.

The recommended consumption of protein based on our diet is as follows:

·        56g per day for males

·        46g per day for women

If you are someone who consistently works out or into bodybuilding the recommended consumption is as follows:

·        0.8 – 1g of protein per pound of body weight

Someone who is exercising frequently and is focusing on weight training should consider consuming BCAAs post workout.

So how can consuming the right amount of protein help you lose weight??

Protein boosts your metabolic rate (calories burned) and reduces your appetite by keeping you full longer when compared to carbohydrates and fats. If you want to lose weight and maintain you should consider increasing protein consumption to 30% of your caloric intake.

To have 30% of your calories coming from protein you would need to take your caloric baseline and multiply it by 0.075. This will give you how many grams of protein you need to consume per day to lose weight. For example: someone whose caloric baseline is 1700 would need 127.5g of protein per day. Keep in mind that your body has the ability to absorb only 30g of protein per sitting. If you consume more than that, you are essentially wasting the protein and your body will just release excess protein through urine. To consume 127.5g of protein is not hard. You can easily divide that by 5 small meals a day. 127.5g divided 5 meals= 25.5g per meal.

 

 

 

 

Feel free to ask your questions in the comments!