Olde Hornet
Well-Known Member
New discovery hints at how to use protein as a nutritional strategy
Researchers discover why added protein may give people a "metabolic advantage."
www.inverse.com
IN DEBATES OVER DIET — which is the best, which should you avoid — certain macronutrients come up again and again. A major food of focus? Protein.
Growing research suggests high protein diets help people feel fuller, use more energy, and increase fat loss. Accordingly, high protein total diet replacement products — nutritionally complete foods or drinks designed to replace someone's complete diet for a certain period of time — have recently skyrocketed in popularity.
That's because they're marketed as an intensive method capable of adding extra protein and helping people lose weight fast. If proven effective, these products could be game-changing for people dealing with obesity and its related health effects. But there's a catch: They haven't yet been rigorously studied for efficacy, so scientists can't say for sure they work.
But in a new study, which put high protein total diet replacement head to head against a typical North American diet, researchers grew closer to understanding the power of protein.
Their findings were published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
In the experiment, healthy people who ate high protein total diet replacement products burned more calories and fat over 32 hours, compared to people on a North American diet — a mix of various carbs, proteins, and fats. The protein group also ended the experiment burning more fat than they consumed, likely implying future weight loss over time.