Does Protein Help You Lose Weight?

Protein is single-handedly one of the most important nutrients for weight loss and is something that we recommend you continuously add to your diet – not only to lose weight but also to strengthen your muscle tissue.

A high-protein diet can reduce your hunger levels by increasing satiety, boost your metabolism and build/repair muscle.

Essentially, when you eat a lot of protein, your body is able to join up amino acids which form filaments, which are what muscles are made up of.

Typically, the first thing people do when they want to lose weight is either significantly reduce and restrict themselves following a low calorie diet or just start skipping meals.  Yes this may be a quick fix and you will probably lose weight, it’s not the healthiest way to go about it.  In fact, most end up putting the weight back on again in the future!

Leading a higher protein lifestyle will help you to lose weight the right way.

How does it help?

1. Increases muscle mass

To increase muscle mass, you need to be eating a good amount of protein, especially after exercising when your body needs protein to repair and grow your muscles.

While there is a huge benefit of eating more protein to build muscle and lose weight, you still need to combine this with consistent and continuous exercise.

2. Boosts Your Metabolism

A high metabolism will help you lose weight quicker. You can increase your metabolism rate by upping your protein intake – your body requires more energy to digest foods that are high in protein; therefore, you end up burning more calories processing protein than you would with other food sources.

3. Increases satiety and reduces Appetite

Eating foods that are high in protein will make you feel fuller for longer. As a result, you are likely to end up eating less and are less likely to feel the need to snack as the day goes on. This alone will lead to a loss in your weight simply because you won’t feel the need to eat as much.

Sounds like the perfect lifestyle, right? While eating protein is incredibly important for your health, it can be a little tough to adjust and increase your protein, especially when you have no idea where to start. Fortunately, there are plenty of things that you can start doing to increase your protein intake.

How to add more protein to your diet:

1. High-Protein Ingredients

Fortunately, increasing your protein intake isn’t difficult to achieve. You can start by switching out regular ingredients for those that are higher in protein. For instance, Eatlean Protein Cheese offers a range of low calorie cheeses (grated, spreadable, block and shaker cheese) that are not only lower in fat than standard cheddar but higher in protein too.

So, you can still enjoy the delicious taste of cheese without any of the guilt, “putting cheese back on the menu”!

2. Snack on the right foods

While protein does reduce your need to snack, if you find yourself hungry in-between meals, try snacking on foods that are higher in protein. Nuts, boiled eggs, cheese (Eatlean snacking bars) and Greek yoghurt are all protein-rich nutrients which will be able to satisfy any of your cravings. If you’re looking for something sweet, try dipping fruit in with the peanut butter – it makes an excellent substitution to sugary snacks!

3. Eat the protein first

The most important thing you should always do when tucking into your meals is eat your protein first. As said earlier, you’re more likely to get full when you’re eating food high in protein and, as a result, you might not finish your meals or eat as much.  It’s far better to get full after having already eaten your protein!

And don’t forget to slow your eating down, to give your body a chance to produce those Leptin hormones that decreases your appetite!

Overall, protein is a big factor in your weight loss journey. Along with exercise, your body will be more adaptable to reducing fat, increasing muscle mass and maintaining a generally healthy lifestyle.