Protein Consumption and Weight Loss

Scientific research is now revealing that people who consume higher amounts of protein (20 to 30 percent of their daily caloric intake), while cutting back on their carbohydrate intake, tend to lose weight faster and stay leaner than those people on low-fat diets.

The reason higher protein, lower carbohydrates diets are more conducive to weight loss and maintenance is interesting. First, high-protein foods slow the movement of food from the stomach to the intestines, meaning you feel full longer and don’t get hungry as often. Second, protein has a leveling effect on your blood sugar which means you are less likely to get spikes in your blood sugar that lead to cravings for carbohydrates. Third, your body uses more energy to digest protein than it does to digest fat or carbohydrates. Click here to read the entire post.

The Importance of Breakfast

Breakfast Starts Your Day in Either a Fat Burning Or a Fat Storing Mode

Your first meal of the day is very important because it determines whether you start your day in a fat burning or a fat storing mode.  Most people mistakenly start their day in a fat storing mode by eating a meal high in carbohydrates such as cereal, bread, fruit, and juice for breakfast and very little protein.  Your body quickly converts all those carbohydrates to blood sugar, which causes your insulin level to spike and to store most of those calories your just consumed as fat.  Once all that blood sugar is stored, your insulin level hits bottom causing hunger pains and cravings for more foods high in carbohydrates.  This vicious sugar craving cycle can go on all day unless you do something to derail it.

On the other hand,  having a breakfast in which you consume at least 21 grams of high quality protein such as eggs, low-fat dairy, and lean meats starts your day in a fat burning mode.  When you eat a breakfast high in protein your body to start a process called protein synthesis.  This is basically a biological process by which muscle cells are built and maintained and it is very energy intensive causing your body to burn fat as fuel to support it.  Thus, this process increases your metabolism, and levels out your energy until your next meal, which means you burn more calories, and you don't have sugar cravings.

I start my day by having a smoothie with a whey protein powder that is quick and easy to make.   When using a protein supplement, whey based or otherwise, make sure it has at least 21 grams of protein per serving because this is the threshold where your body starts the protein synthesis process.  Below is one of my favorite smoothies for breakfast, I call it my Blueberry Special.

• One cup of frozen wild blueberries
• One serving of vanilla whey protein powder (the one I use has 26 grams of protein per serving)
• One cup of unsweetened almond milk

This smoothie contains 249 calories, 3 grams of fat, 29 grams of carbohydrates, and 28 grams of protein. A quick and easy balanced breakfast that starts my day in a fat burning mode.