Increase
Your Metabolism And Decrease Your Appetite With This Fat-Burning
Food Group
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
There have
been countless studies performed on the role of protein
in the muscle growth process to try and determine exactly
how much protein you should consume to build muscle mass.
Recently, several studies have looked at the role that
dietary protein plays in helping you lose fat, and more
importantly, helping you keep it off!
One thing scientists
have discovered is that eating lean protein foods is important
for regulating body composition because it decreases your
appetite.
In a 2003 study
reported in the journal, Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition
And Metabolic Care (2003; 6(6): 635-638), protein was
shown to be more satiating (made you feel fuller) than
both carbohydrate and fat both in the short term and the
long term.
Eating more
lean protein foods has also been proven as an effective
strategy to help you burn fat and keep it off because
of something called, “dietary thermogenesis”
(also known as the thermic effect of food).
In a study
published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2005
(93(2): 281-289), researchers followed a group of 113
overweight subjects after 4 weeks of a very low calorie
diet, through a 6 month period of weight maintenance.
The subjects were divided into a protein group or a control
group. The protein group was simply given an extra 30
grams of protein per day on top of their usual diet.
The researchers
found that during weight maintenance, the group with the
higher protein intake was less likely to regain the lost
weight, and any weight gain in the protein group was lean
tissue and not fat. The results were attributed to higher
thermic effect and a decrease in appetite.
Although calories
will always be the bottom line when it comes to fat loss,
studies such as these are confirming what bodybuilders
have known for a long time: That calories are not the
only factor that can influence your body composition.
Your protein intake and your ratios of protein relative
to carbohydrate and fat can clearly play a key role in
helping you lose fat and keep the fat off.
None of this
is news to bodybuilders or to anyone who is already familiar
with bodybuilding-style nutrition programs such as Burn
The Fat, Feed The Muscle. But it’s interesting that
such positive results were achieved in studies where protein
was increased so conservatively - as little as 30 additional
grams of protein per day or a 20% increase above traditional
protein recommendations.
Many bodybuilding-style
diets (such as Burn The Fat and Body For Life) call for
as much as 30%-40% of the total daily calories from protein
and some competitive bodybuilders crank up the protein
(temporarily) to as much as 50% before competitions.
I’m curious
to see if any research is ever conducted with these more
aggressive protein intakes. If so, my guess is that we
will find once again, that the bodybuilders are ahead
of the science when it comes to the manipulation of diet
for improving body composition.
The take home
lesson is simple: If you remove some carbs and put in
some protein - nothing too radical; even as little as
trading 30 grams per day of carbs for 30 grams of lean
protein - this small change in your diet may decrease
your appetite, decrease your body fat and help you keep
the fat off after you lose it.
About
the Author:
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Tom Venuto is a lifetime
natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal
trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning
specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling
e-book, "Burn
the Fat, Feed The Muscle.” Tom has
written hundreds of articles and has been featured
in print magazines such as IRONMAN, Australian IRONMAN,
Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Exercise
for Men and Men’s Exercise, as well as on hundreds
of websites worldwide.
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