Protein for Weight Loss
Protein is an essential food for weight loss due to its unique properties on the hunger center in the brain. It also indirectly contributes to a higher metabolism and has the ability to reduce the overall glycemic index of a meal when eaten with high GI foods.
When your body requires nutrition, it alerts the satiety center in the brain to trigger the feeling of hunger. After eating a meal, the satiety center is able to detect the nutrients that is being absorbed into the blood stream and switches ‘off’. Certain foods like protein will switch the satiety center ‘off’ while other foods like carbohydrates and fats are less effective in doing so. In any weight loss program, protein plays a vital role in controlling your appetite and making you feel full for longer.
Protein is a major component of muscle cells. Since these cells have the most amount of mitochondria (energy factories), it is crucial to keep the muscles in a healthy state. The larger the muscle cell, the more calories it will burn to produce energy. Muscle cells require physical activity and protein to increase and maintain their size.
Therefore protein will indirectly increase your metabolism by nourishing the best calorie consumers in your body, namely the mitochondria rich muscle cells.
Ounce for ounce, protein has less calories than carbohydrates and fats. Apart from the lower calorie intake when eating protein, this nutrient also lowers the glycemic index of foods. As far as possible, high calorie and high GI foods should be excluded from any weight loss program. This is not always possible and by eating high protein foods, you can ensure that the total GI of the meal is reduced.
The importance of protein for weight loss cannot be overemphasized. At the same time, high protein diets with little or no carbohydrates or fats is not advisable. These high protein diets can strain the liver and kidneys ultimately leading to health complications which may be more detrimental than obesity.