Does A High Protein Diet Plan Help You Lose Weight?

easy diets that work

One of the hardest things to do when you are on a diet is to deprive yourself of your favourite foods.Good easy diets that work should not make you leave the table feeling disatisfied and craving for more food. Many people have chosen to embark on a high protein diet plan when trying to lose weight. This diet has even captured the hearts of atheletes and nutritionists. Imagine being able to indulge in juicy chunks of steaks, huge slabs of ribs and a bucket of KFC and still be able to lose weight.A diet as such does not exist.

I do not deny that there is certainly some science behind the benefits of a high protein diet plan for weight loss. However, it should be excuted with balance, moderation and variation. Do not gorge yourself silly with steaks and expect to stay healthy and shed the pounds.

What is the Recommended Protein Intake

You should be deriving 15-20% of your energy needs from protein. Just to illustrate, protein should povide 300-400kcal for someone who has a calorie requirement of 2000kcal daily, and this is equivalent to 75-100grams of protein (1 gram protein contains 4 kcal). To understand more about your calorie requirments, you can take a look at my other article on calorie counting.

When Your High Protein Diet Gets Out Of Hand

The Atikins Diet is probably not an unfamilar concept. This diet became popular in the 70s and gained the reputation of being highly effective in helping individuals shed the pounds. It is a very low carbohydrate diet that focuses on avoiding carbohydrate rich foods like grains, noodles, potatoes and breads. It is based on a rich intake of high protein foods mainly meat which unfortunately comes with a rich amount of saturated fat. The bottom line is:

High protein diet Loads of meat & no veggies and grains

Can You Shed The Pounds With The Diet?

A high protein diet plan may produce weight loss results if executed in moderation.

1) High protein diet keeps you fuller for longer

A protein rich meal provides greater satiety and satisfaction. Protein rich foods tend to be heavy in the stomach and that this does help to regulate the appetite of an individual by triggering the release of satiety hormones which signal your brain to tell you to stop eating. Seems like an easy diet that works? For sure if you are responsive to your body cues.

2) High protein diet helps to reduce muscle loss

You must know that your body isnt equipped with a self fat measuring device to know which body part needs some work to be done. The truth is your body loses fat and to a smaller extent the muscles as well. Lean muscles are the ones that determine our metabolism. This means they are the power cells in your body that uses the most calories.

Loss of muscles result in less calories being burnt. Not so good after all if you are trying to lose weight. A high protein diet can help your body minimize the loss of muscle tissue when you are trying to lose weight. Therefore, calorie burning is not comprimised as you lose weight. It can't get better than that!

The Dangers Of Nutritionally Imbalanced High Protein Diets (That Dr Atkins will never tell you)

1) Feeling Backed Up

High protein diets are more often than not associated with lower intake of other components in the diet. Most people compromise on their consumption of grains, veggies & fruits which are so important for maintaining bowel regularity as these foods are packed with fiber. Be prepared to be spending ages in the bathroom trying to clear your bowels.

Solution: Choose food sources that are rich in protein and fiber. Foods such as legumes, beans, nuts and wholegrains are great options. In addition, they contain loads of nutrients that you need.

2) Elavated cholesterol

Animal sources of protein are no doubt high quality protein. The downside is that they come with a higher amount of saturated fat which can raise blood cholesterol levels. It can burden your heart health which is a larger expense to pay off.

Solution: Choose lean cuts of meat as much as possible. Egg yolks should be consumed in moderation. Fish is a better alternative than meat because of its low animal fat content.

3) Increased workload on kidneys and dehydration

Urea is a byproduct that the body produces when protein is broken down. The kidneys play an important role in eliminating urea from the body system. The kidneys can be overworked due to the excess urea that is formed from a high protein intake. Also, water is removed from the system alongside with urea which results in transition loss of water weight.

Solution: Don't consume ridiculous amounts of protein. Eat what is required and make sure you exercise so that your body can put the protein you consume to good use in the muscles. Remember to up your fluid intake to replenish the water loss.

4) Crabohydrate binges

Many diets fail because it is vitually impossible to be eating the same old thing every single day. After days of pure carnivorous dieting, I think one will prefer having something more fulfilling like pasta and potatoes. Depriving your body from a particular food will cause you to crave for it even more. This will eventually cause you to lose control over your diet and go on a crazy food binge which will cause you to regain all the weight that you have lost.

Solution: Your diet will achieve better results by ensuring that foods from all food groups are being included in your meals which includes low GI carbohydrates, protein and good fats.

Suggested healthy protein rich snacks:

6 oz reduced fat Greek yoghurt with some fresh berries (14g protein)
4 oz canned tuna/salmon served with crackers (25g protein)
1 oz reduced salt beef jerky (11g protein)
2 egg-white omelet (14g protein)
2 tbsp peanut butter spread on an apple (14g protein)
3 tbsp of oatmeal cooked in 1 cup of soy milk (18g protein)
3 tbsp non-fat cream cheese on rice-crackers (12g protein)



I strongly recommend staying away from diets that restrict the intake of carbohydrates. A healthy high protein diet plan will ensure that foods from all food groups are well incorporated in order to maintain both your health and your muscle mass for effective calorie burning. Do note that a healthy diet alone is not good enough for weight loss. Exercise plays a pivotal role in the success of your weight loss. If you are keen to learn more about some basic exercises that you can incorporate in your weight.