The Importance of Protein in Weight Loss
The
amount of quality protein in your diet is the single most important factor that
influences your metabolic rate, favorably influencing weight loss. Quality
protein also helps you sustain muscle during weight loss, improve muscle
fitness, improve immunity, improve antioxidant function, build HDL Cholesterol,
and enhance insulin and leptin function – all of which contribute toward
optimal weight management efforts over time.
OK, lets get technical for a moment: Proteins are very important molecules in our cells. They
are involved in virtually all cell functions. Each protein within the body has
a specific role. Some proteins are involved in structural support, while others
are involved in bodily movement, or in defense against germs. Proteins vary in
structure as well as function. They are constructed from a set of 20 amino
acids and have distinct three-dimensional shapes. Below is a list of a few
types of proteins and their functions:
Protein Functions:
Antibodies - are specialized proteins involved in defending the body
from antigens (foreign invaders). One way antibodies destroy antigens is by
immobilizing them so that they can be destroyed by white blood cells.
Contractile Proteins - are responsible for movement. Examples include actin and
myosin. These proteins are involved in muscle contraction and movement.
Enzymes - are proteins that facilitate biochemical reactions. They
are often referred to as catalysts because they speed up chemical reactions.
Examples include the enzymes lactase and pepsin. Lactase breaks down the sugar
lactose found in milk. Pepsin is a digestive enzyme that works in the stomach
to break down proteins in food.
Hormonal Proteins - are messenger proteins which help to coordinate certain
bodily activities. Examples include insulin, oxytocin, and somatotropin.
Insulin regulates glucose metabolism by controlling the blood-sugar
concentration. Oxytocin stimulates contractions in females during childbirth.
Somatotropin is a growth hormone that stimulates protein production in muscle
cells.
Structural Proteins - are fibrous and stringy and provide support. Examples
include keratin, collagen, and elastin. Keratins strengthen protective
coverings such as hair, quills, feathers, horns, and beaks. Collagens and
elastin provide support for connective tissues such as tendons and ligaments.
Storage Proteins - store amino acids. Examples include ovalbumin and casein.
Ovalbumin is found in egg whites and casein is a milk-based protein.
Transport Proteins - are carrier proteins which move molecules from one place
to another around the body. Examples include hemoglobin and cytochromes.
Hemoglobin transports oxygen through the blood. Cytochromes operate in the electron
transport chain as electron carrier proteins.
Summary
Proteins serve various functions in the body. The structure
of a protein determines its function. For example, collagen has a super-coiled
helical shape. It is long, stringy, strong, and resembles a rope. This
structure is great for providing support. Hemoglobin on the other hand, is a globular
protein that is folded and compact. Its spherical shape is useful for
maneuvering through blood vessels.
How Protein Helps in Weight Loss
In
order to benefit from high protein for weight loss, the amount of carbohydrates
must be reduced. This is because carbohydrates are easy-to-use fuels.
When you eat fewer carcohydrates you encourage your body to break down stored fat. You
prevent your body from converting muscle protein to fuel (blood sugar) by
eating higher protein, thus preserving muscle mass.
Breakfast
is the most important meal of the day to incorporate high quality proteins. Protein
in the morning wakes up your liver and gives it something to do. Your
liver is the metabolic factory of your body. A high-protein breakfast can
increase your metabolic rate by thirty percent for as long as twelve hours,
that’s the calorie-burning equivalents of a three to five mile jog. Fats and
carbohydrates are easy for your liver to use, thus only increasing liver metabolism
by four percent. Protein must be taken apart and re-assembled for use elsewhere
in your body, keeping your metabolism higher, longer. This dynamic effect of
protein has recently been shown to be the key in supporting your natural
ability to burn fat at a faster rate when consuming a diet higher in protein.
Protein
is made up of various amino acids. In terms of weight loss, scientists are
finding that the most important amino acids are the branch chain amino acids,
especially leucine. If you get your protein intake high enough, especially in
proteins that are rich in leucine, a number of very interesting things happen
that can activate a sluggish metabolism and result in weight loss.
How Protein Increases Metabolism
During
weight loss our bodies can easily lose muscle mass (and bone for that matter).
The protein Leucine has a direct signaling effect on muscle that prevents muscle loss
during weight loss. This means that on a high-protein diet, the weight that is
lost is mostly fat, not muscle. Whereas on a high-carbohydrate weight-loss
diet, much more muscle is lost. Leucine directly communicates to insulin,
instructing it to work efficiently in muscle. This not only helps preserve your
muscle mass, it helps your muscles use glucose as fuel, in turn supporting
healthy insulin function.
This
high-protein, leucine-rich diet invariably lowers blood levels of
triglycerides, which allows the protein Leptin to get into your brain easier so that you
feel full on fewer calories. Once leptin gets into your brain correctly,
then leptin resistance is reduced, and your metabolism gets a go signal. Protein
is especially helpful in improving your brain’s feeling of food satisfaction
A
higher-protein diet also has a natural diuretic effect. Individuals with extra
weight are often sluggish and holding extra water. This not only makes their
blood pressure go up, as their heart tries to push harder to move the stagnation,
the extra water in connective tissues directly gets in the way of fat burning.
When you eat a higher protein diet an important blood protein called
albumin will increase. As albumin increases, through osmotic force, it draws
water back out of your connective tissues, thus helping you get rid of fluid
retention. If you have too much inflammation, then your kidneys may leak
albumin into your urine, provoking fluid retention, weight problems, and
significant cardiovascular risk.
How
Much Protein Do I Need for Weight Loss?
A
significant body of scientific evidence indicates that protein levels far
higher than our government’s suggested levels of intake are optimal for weight
loss, as long as you simultaneously decrease carbohydrate intake. A minimal
target amount is three-fourths of your ideal body weight in grams of protein
per day, ranging up to three-fourths of your actual weight in grams of protein
per day.
For
example, if you should weigh 160 pounds and you do weigh 200 pounds, then your
goal for protein intake is in the range of 120 to 150 grams of protein per day.
Since each gram of protein is four calories, this means 480 to 600 calories per
day from protein. This is around thirty percent of your calories from protein
(based on a 2000 calorie diet).
How ever you chose to calculate it the most important thing to know
is that you liver can only process 30 grams of protein in a three hour
period during normal activity. So it is important to divide your
requirement to fit into that rule. During exorcise need to up that
substantially. The best way to accomplish this is to consume your
requred protein intake as you should through out the day, and add 35 to
your work out as follows; 20 minutes before your work out take in 15
grams of high quality protein and post work out take in another 20
grams.
The
simple fact of the matter is: when you increase quality protein intake over the
basic amount needed for nitrogen balance, then the branch chain amino acids
like leucine, which are metabolized in your muscles (not in your liver as are
other amino acids), directly and favorably benefit muscle function and health –
including enhanced calorie burning by muscle that clearly supports healthy
weight loss
Thank you.
John Cardinal
Copyright Healthy Weight Loss for Life 2012
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