Listen up if you are trying to shed the excess pounds: a high-protein diet may produce increased feelings of fullness, according to a new study.
Many individuals boost their protein intake while trying to lose weight, believing it will lead to feeling fuller while consuming fewer calories. However, there has really been no large study to test this, noted a group of researchers at Purdue University.
The team made a systematic review of data from numerous research works on the matter, confirming that protein in fact helps people feel fuller more quickly.
Lead investigator and nutrition professor Dr. Richard Mattes said that a good deal of scientific evidence shows how protein activates the release of the hormone responsible for satiety, or fullness between meals.
"[B]ut individual studies are often conducted in small populations or with different approaches that can make interpretation of results challenging. Our study combined multiple experiments to confirm the presence of an effect," he explains.
In the team's review, higher protein loads emerged to have greater influence on fullness than lower protein amounts in the diet.
Note, however, that protein is hardly a magic bullet for weight loss. Dr. Mattes asserted that hunger and fullness are only part of the food-intake equation, as people eat for other reasons.
But just how much protein is necessary to help one feel fuller for longer? The answer is not something determined by the study, although the researchers recommended a moderate rise in protein consumption.
The effects are ideally sustained over time to reap the weight loss or management benefits, the team added.
The findings were published Mar. 3 in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
One diet that pays good attention to protein is the Paleo diet, which promotes a return to our roots and emulating the diet and lifestyles of Paleolithic ancestors. The diet involves taking lots of lean meat, eggs, certain nuts and seeds, fruits, and vegetables - and none of the added hormones and additives like sugar that are unavailable during that bygone era.
Doctoral researcher Caroline Mellberg, a co-author of a long-term Swedish study that compared a meat-heavy Paleo plan to a carb-laden Nordic diet, said that there may not be anything magical about the diet plan, considering that empty calories and an unhealthy food fare are all taken out.
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