Women eating a high-protein diet lose an extra 5.5 pounds of bodyfat

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Tuesday, October 12, 2004 7:20 am Email this article
Women who ate the same number of calories and same amount of fat, but twice as much protein, lost 5.5 pounds more bodyfat than women eating a diet contained only half as much protein according to a recent study from the University of Illinois.

PROTEIN INTAKE: 125 GRAMS VS 68 GRAMS

The high-protein diet contained 125 grams of protein per day versus 68 grams for the normal-protein group.

This is approximately 0.73 grams per pound of bodyweight for the high-protein group, and 0.36 grams per pound of bodyweight for the low-protein group.

CARBOHYDRATE-TO-PROTEIN RATIO: 1.4 VS 3.5

The ratio of carbohydrates-to-protein was 1.4-to-1 in the high-protein group compared to 3.5-to-1 in the low-protein group.

WEIGHT LOSS: 16.6 LBS VS 15.3 LBS

Women in the high-protein group lost an average of 16.6 pounds versus 15.3 pounds for those in the normal-protein group.

FAT LOSS: 13.9 LBS VS 8.4 LBS

Women eating the high-protein diet lost an average of 5.5 pounds more bodyfat than the normal-protein group: 13.9 pounds of bodyfat versus 8.4 pounds of bodyfat.

CALORIE INTAKE: 1700 CALORIES PER DAY; DIETARY FAT: 50 GRAMS

Both diets contained 1700 calories per day 50 grams of dietary fat.

MORE SATIETY AND MORE ENERGY ON THE HIGH-PROTEIN DIET

Women in the high-protein group released less insulin following meals, reported greater satiety, and greater energy than women eating the low-protein diet.

SUBJECTS

The study involved 24 overweight women, 24- to 56-years-old, with a body mass index (BMI) of 26 or more.

CONCLUSION

“This study demonstrates that increasing the proportion of protein to carbohydrate in the diet of adult women has positive effects on body composition, blood lipids, glucose homeostasis and satiety during weight loss,” the authors of the study concluded.

REFERENCE

Layman D, Boileau R, Erickson D, Painter J, Shiue H, Sather C, Christou D. A reduced ratio of dietary carbohydrate to protein improves body composition and blood lipid profiles during weight loss in adult women. J Nutr. 2003 Feb, 133(2):411-17.

AUTHOR CORRESPONDENCE

D. Layman
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, IL 61801, USA
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