The Power of Protein

I feel like I am on a crusade of sorts sometimes when it comes to protein supplementation.  I’m not sure why I feel like I am trying to convince people of the benefits of consuming adequate, quality sources of protein.  Maybe it’s because I get the feeling that often my advice is met with, “Ya, ya, protein shmotein, blah, blah.”

There are only a handful of supplements that we actually will recommend to our athletes, young and old.  Protein is the top on our list.  And don’t get me wrong, protein supplementation is not mandatory or absolutely essential for results, but over the last 9 years of hanging out in a gym, completing hundreds of nutrition consultations and hearing the same challenges people are having, it’s a very good place to start a conversation, and is an easy 1st step for most.

WHAT IS PROTEIN?

Proteins are essential nutrients for the human body.  They are the building blocks of human tissue and can also serve as a fuel source (although not optimal in most cases).  The most important aspect of a protein from a nutritional standpoint is its amino acid composition.

There are 9 essential amino acids,  which the body does not biosynthesized by the human body, and must be obtained from one’s diet.  These proteins can be found in meat, dairy, fish, legumes, grains, nuts and edible insects.

PROTEIN FUNCTIONS IN THE HUMAN BODY

Protein is a nutrient needed by the human body for growth and maintenance. Aside from water, proteins are the most abundant kind of molecules in the body. Protein can be found in all cells of the body and is the major structural component of all cells in the body, especially muscle.

PROTEIN FOR MUSCLE BUILDING

Research indicates that individuals performing strength-training activity require more protein than sedentary individuals. Strength-training athletes may increase their daily protein intake to a maximum of 1.4–1.8 g per kg body weight to enhance muscle protein synthesis, or to make up for the loss of amino acid oxidation during exercise. Many athletes maintain a high-protein diet as part of their training. In fact, some athletes who specialize in anaerobic sports (e.g., weightlifting) believe a very high level of protein intake is necessary, and so consume high protein meals and also protein supplements.

HOW MUCH PROTEIN PER DAY TO LOSE WEIGHT?

If you want to lose weight, aim for a daily protein intake between 1.6 and 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram (.73 and 1 grams per pound). Athletes and heavy exercisers should consume 2.2-3.4 grams of protein per kilogram (1-1.5 grams per pound) if aiming for weight loss.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF PROTEIN IN WEIGHT LOSS?

Dietary protein can be an important part of a diet that is intended for weight loss.

While there are many benefits to dietary protein, there are four main areas that have direct effects on weight loss:

1. Satiety
2. Lean mass
3. Thermic effect of food
4. Storage as body fat

Let us take a deeper dive into each of these topics.

PROTEIN HELPS YOU FEEL FULL LONGER

One of the biggest things that impedes weight loss is hunger.

People are far less likely to stick with a nutrition or diet plan if they experience high levels of hunger.

 Protein is the most satiating of all the macronutrients (1).

Several different lines of research have all pointed to the same thing: higher protein intakes tend to provide more satiety and less hunger.

For example, in one study, high protein snacks allowed people to go longer between eating and also caused them to eat less at subsequent meals (2).

Another study showed that including protein into a glass of water decreased hunger compared to water alone (3).

Depending on the source of protein, there does appear to be minor differences in the exact amount of satiety that protein provides, however these differences are minor and don’t really make a meaningful impact for most people (4).

PROTEIN HELPS YOU FEEL FULL LONGER

One of the biggest things that impedes weight loss is hunger.

People are far less likely to stick with a nutrition or diet plan if they experience high levels of hunger.

 Protein is the most satiating of all the macronutrients (1).

Several different lines of research have all pointed to the same thing: higher protein intakes tend to provide more satiety and less hunger.

For example, in one study, high protein snacks allowed people to go longer between eating and also caused them to eat less at subsequent meals (2).

Another study showed that including protein into a glass of water decreased hunger compared to water alone (3).

Depending on the source of protein, there does appear to be minor differences in the exact amount of satiety that protein provides, however these differences are minor and don’t really make a meaningful impact for most people (4).

PROTEIN PRESERVES LEAN BODY MASS

In addition, protein has another benefit on weight loss: it helps preserve lean body mass during periods of caloric restriction.

One study compared the effect of low protein intake (1.0 grams per kilogram per day) to high protein intake (2.3 g/kg per day) on lean body mass over a short term caloric deficit. On average, the low protein group lost about 1.6 kilograms (3.5 pounds) of muscle mass while the high protein group only lost 0.3 kg (0.66 pounds) of muscle mass (6).

Another similar study compared 0.8 g/kg per day against 1.6 g/kg per day and 2.4 g/kg per day and found that the two higher intakes (1.6 and 2.4 g/kg per day) spared more lean body mass than the 0.8 g/kg per day diet. They also found that there was no real benefit to 2.4 g/kg per day over 1.6 g/kg per day (7).

Currently, most evidence suggests that ~1.6 grams of protein per kilogram, or .73 grams of protein per pound is a recommended daily target for protein intake to spare lean body mass loss during periods of weight loss.

PROTEIN INCREASES THE THERMIC EFFECT OF FOOD

The thermic effect of food is the “cost” of digesting your food.

Essentially, it takes some energy to break food down, digest it, and turn it into energy. Protein has the highest “cost” of all the three macronutrients.

While the total effect that the thermic effect of food has on daily energy expenditure and weight loss is small, it is not meaningless and is important to note.

In one study, a high protein diet increased the thermic effect of food by roughly 6-8 kcals per hour when compared to a low protein diet, which may translate to ~50-75 calories per day (8).

However, not all studies show this large of an effect, and the thermic effect of protein is not likely responsible for most of its benefit, but it may be the “cherry on top” of adequate dietary protein during weight loss.

PROTEIN IS HARD TO STORE AS BODY FAT

During periods of weight loss, there are often times where more energy is consumed than expended. As such, minimizing how much of that excess energy (i.e. calories) is stored as fat is important.

The body processes the three different macronutrients (i.e. proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) in very different ways.

Leaving out a lot of jargon and mumbo jumbo, in order for protein to be stored as fat, it goes through a much different biochemical process than either carbohydrates or protein.

This process makes it much harder for protein to store as body fat.

One study found that protein is stored as body fat with roughly 66% efficiency, while carbohydrates store with 80% efficiency and fats store at 96% efficiency (9).

During weight loss, overeating protein results in much less stored body fat than overeating on carbohydrates or fat.

PROTEIN QUALITY

The most important aspect and defining characteristic of protein from a nutritional standpoint is its amino acid composition. There are multiple systems which rate proteins by their usefulness to an organism based on their relative percentage of amino acids and, in some systems, the digestibility of the protein source.

Full spectrum Amino Acid profile

When you consume protein, your body breaks it down into its individual components: amino acids. These amino acids can be classified as essential or non-essential. The essential amino acids need to be consumed in the diet whereas the non-essential amino acids can be made in the body (from other amino acids).

BCAAs from Whey Protein prevents muscle loss and support growth.

Of the essential amino acids, three are called branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), which include: L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine and L-Valine. These unique amino acids bypass the liver and are primarily oxidized for energy in muscle tissue. BCAAs are generally consumed on their own to provide muscles with an energy source, while also helping to prevent muscle loss and support growth.

DIESEL provides 26g to 27g of amino acids (26g for chocolate flavours), 13g of naturally occurring essential amino acids (EAAs) and 7 g of BCAAs to help provide a favourable array of growth-promoting, muscle-sparing and energy-providing amino acids.