The Effects of Protein Intake On BF% and LBM

Will Pendley

Points to Consider:
High protein diets help hyperinsulinemic patients reach normal fasting blood insulin levels. High protein diets helped weight lifters retain their lean body mass. Dietary intake of protein is correlated with a healthier body fat percentage.

Reducing Weight In Patients With Excess Insulin

This study showed that when com pared to a high carb diet, a high protein diet helped on multiple avenues with reducing weight in patients. The resting energy expenditure was maintained in the patients with a high protein diet versus a decline in the carb group. This means that with the same amount of calories in the diet, the protein helped to actually burn more over the course of the diet.

Reducing Weight In Patients With Excess Insulin

A decrease in water weight was also seen in the protein group, this could be encouraging to patients who have had difficultly losing weight. The extra weight loss could also help get around other barriers such as hurting joints from excess body weight. Finally the protein helped to lower the amount of insulin present in the blood stream. For those that are prediabetic this could help them prevent contracting diabetes and for those that have it, it would improve symptoms.

Preservation Of Muscle Mass In Weight Lifters

Again a high protein versus high carbohydrate diet was used to study the differing effects of macronutrient amounts. The 1.6g/kg group (high protein) was able to preserve the most of their muscle mass during the study . A negative effect was found in the high protein group: with a lower carbohydrate intake their quadriceps failed earlier during endurance testing.

Standard Protein Versus High Protein

A meta analysis reviewed a group of studies looking at the varying effects of a low fat, low carb, standard protein diet against the same parameters with a high protein diet instead. When looking at body fat, lean body mass preservation, energy expenditure and other effects; the high protein diet out performed the standard protein by a significant margin.

Cardiovascular Disease Risk

In a similar vein to the previous studies this one looked at the difference between a standard diet and a high protein diet and their effects on CVD risk factors.

Once again high protein out performed a standard diet in factors such as: blood pressure, total cholesterol, reduced fat mass, lean body mass retention, increased energy expenditure, reduced waist circumfrence

Whenever a diet is being designed, whether for weight loss or performance, macronutrient content is a very important thing to consider. Proteins importance should not be underestimated and quality protein should be a part of everyones diet, but it is important to not get focused on the fact and omit fat and carbohydrate from a healthy diet.