How Much Protein Should I Eat to Lose Weight?

If you're on a regular diet, you've probably wondered, "How much protein should I eat to lose weight?" You want to know the amount of protein you need per day for effective weight loss.

Overview

The answer can be confusing because, at the grocery store, you see protein being added to many of your favorite diet foods. You can assume that eating more protein is better. But that is not necessarily the case. Follow these guidelines to find out how much protein to lose weight and how much protein per day is best for your sports and fitness goals.

Protein for weight loss

Before stocking up on protein supplements and protein-rich snacks suitable for your diet, make sure you know the recommended daily amount of protein.

The nutritional guidelines suggest that a healthy adult should consume between 10 and 35 percent of their calories from protein.

Is more protein better? Eating too much of any nutrient is not a good thing, especially when you are trying to lose weight.

Some scientists believe that when dieters consume more protein foods, they achieve greater weight loss results. But the researchers kept protein levels within recommended guidelines. Three studies have found that dieters who consume between 25% and 30% of their calories from lean protein have lost more body fat and have substantially increased the number of calories their body burns at rest.

High protein and daily diets

In a study of overweight and obese women, researchers evaluated dietitians who ate a high-protein diet (30%), a high-dairy diet, and a low-protein diet (15%), a low-dairy diet. The high-protein group lost more body fat and gained more lean muscle than the women on the low-protein diet. The low-protein group lost weight, but they also lost more lean muscle mass.

The study authors suggest that this loss of lean muscle mass may contribute to the long-term weight gain and frustrating weight loss plateaus that plague so many dieters.

When the low-protein group lost lean muscle, they may have lost the ability to burn more calories throughout the day. On the other hand, the improved body composition of the high protein group can help them burn more calories in the short and long term.

Remember that if you eat a lot of calories, no matter what kind of calories, you will gain weight. Although some studies suggest that gaining weight with lean protein is better than gaining weight with fat and carbohydrates, if weight loss is your goal, eating the right amount of calories is still the key to success.

Protein for exercise

If you exercise as part of your weight loss plan, you can include more protein in your diet. The protein needs of athletes are greater than those of typical dieters. Dieters and exercisers can still use the 10 to 35 percent recommendation as a guide and keep protein intake at the upper limit. Or you can calculate your protein needs using a formula.

An average dieter needs 0.4 to 0.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. That is 0.8 to 1.0 grams per kilogram.

Experts recommend that athletes and athletes consume 0.5 to 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight (1.2 to 1.7 grams per kilogram). An athlete or person who exercises a lot is usually someone who exercises more than 10 to 12 hours a week.

Protein supplements

Many protein supplements are expensive, and some may contain sugars and other ingredients that you don't need. Why spend money and consume extra calories? You probably don't need a protein supplement to lose weight.

By including protein from healthy protein foods with meals and snacks, you can meet your daily protein needs. Many foods that are already in your kitchen can increase your intake. For example, do you know how much protein is in an egg?

A single large egg provides approximately 5 grams of protein. An egg white has about 4 grams of protein. By combining a single egg with a few whites, you can make a diet-friendly mix and consume 15 grams of protein or more, without too much added fat.

A piece of lean chicken can be included at dinner or lunch. The amount of protein in a chicken breast depends on how much you eat, but a single 120 ml serving generally provides 26 grams of protein.

A word from Verywell

There are other reasons to skip supplements and include high-protein foods in your diet. Protein foods are also rich in other essential vitamins and minerals for your diet. Lean meat, dairy, and seafood contain iron, calcium, niacin, and thiamine.

We hope you enjoy watching this video about how much to eat protein

Source: Dr. Diet

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