Should you eat more protein? There's a growing body of evidence that it might help you to lose weight.
Eating protein is at the heart of many low carb diets, and many people have been successful with plans such as the Atkins Diet, that replace carbs with increased protein consumption. But it's not just commercial diets that are taking this approach.
Recent research has shown that protein can be very effective for dieters. Researchers compared two diets, both with the same number of calories. The difference was that whereas one was only 10% protein, the other was 30%. The results? After three months, the high protein group had lost almost twice as much weight as the other group - and almost as significantly, they hadn't lost any muscle mass.
This is important, because muscles are the body's furnace, burning calories 24/7 - so the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. One problem with many diets is that you lose muscle as well as fat, and thus slow your metabolism - the rate at which you burn calories.
So where do you find it? Good sources of this essential nutrient include: - Eggs
- Fish
- Meat
- Chicken
- Beef
- Lamb
- Turkey
- Seeds
- Nuts
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