What's New – Can Protein Help with Weight Loss?

Appetite management

A number of studies have found protein can help keep people feeling full between meals, more so than either carbohydrate or fat. Therefore protein may help to control hunger, which may in turn help you to eat less. So if you’re looking for a way to better manage your appetite, choosing foods that are higher in protein may be part of the answer.

Weight loss

If you want to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you eat. In studies where people chose how much they ate, they generally ate fewer calories and lost more body fat when they were on a higher protein diet, at least up to a year. Since protein may help curb your hunger it may help you to control your calorie intake and lose more weight.

Weight maintenance

People often find that it’s difficult to keep weight off after losing it. Research shows that higher protein diets tend to help preserve more muscle during weight loss and weight maintenance compared to higher carbohydrate diets. Since muscle actually helps your body burn more energy, having more muscle may make it easier for you to keep weight off.

How much protein?

Current dietary guidelines tell us that adults can safely consume 10 to 35% of their daily energy (calories) from protein. This translates to a range of about 50 to 175 grams of protein for an adult who eats 2,000 calories a day. Most Canadians eat well within this range. In fact, average adult protein intakes are at the lower end of the range, at about 17% of energy. This suggests most people can enjoy more protein-rich foods, which may benefit their health.

Put lean protein on your plate

There are all kinds of ways to add lean protein to your meals and snacks. Try these ideas to help you enjoy more protein.

Breakfast

• Enjoy poached, hardboiled or scrambled eggs. Add some lower-fat cheese and lean meat to an omelette for added protein.
• Top your cereal or yogurt with a small handful of nuts and seeds (such as slivered almonds, crushed walnut and sunflower seeds).
• Put some lean protein on your morning bagel or toast with a lower-fat melted cheese, nut butters or lean deli meat.
• Make a yogurt or soy smoothie with frozen bananas and berries.

Lunch

• Top a salad with strips of steak, chicken, or ham, tuna, hardboiled egg, nuts, seeds or chick peas.
• Make a wrap with beef, turkey or ham.
• Go for some sushi.
• Enjoy a warm bowl of chili.

Dinner

• Make a stew with lean meat and vegetables.
• Stuff whole grain tortilla wraps with cooked lean ground meat, shredded cheese, lettuce, salsa, avocado and a spoonful of plain yogurt.
• Enjoy a glass of milk with your meal.
• Put plenty of meat or tofu and a handful of sesame seeds in your stir-fry.

Snacks

• Pack beef jerky in your lunch for an afternoon boost.
• Top your fruit with some cottage cheese after your workout.
• Spread tuna on whole grain crackers for a great afternoon snack.
• Grab a handful of almonds.