Originally published on Thursday, January 12th, 2012
Weight Loss by Jeff Jurmain for The Doctors Health Press

A new study in a prestigious medical journal honed in on what contributes most to weight gain. It specifically looked at low- and high-protein diets and the effect of calories. Guess what? The slice of health news confirmed that calories remain the main threat to your waistline.

The study was a small sample size, with 25 healthy people (body mass index between 19 and 30) who were given specific diets. They over-consumed different levels of protein. Those on the low-protein diet had less weight gain compared to those consuming normal and high-protein diets.

But calories alone — not protein — appeared to contribute to an increase in body fat. The study appeared in last week’s issue of the “Journal of the American Medical Association.” It was also found that protein did contribute to changes in energy expenditure and lean body mass.

There are many more benefits to reducing your caloric intake, as show in the article Extend Your Life by Reducing This Intake.

Obesity is of course a major public health concern. Six out of 10 U.S. adults are overweight, with three out of 10 obese. Researchers had yet to see how one’s diet in response to overeating and energy use affected obesity levels.

So, researchers used the study to determine whether the level of protein affected body composition, weight gain, or energy expenditure. After consuming a weight-stabilizing diet for 13 to 25 days, participants were randomized to receive diets containing five percent of energy from protein (low protein), 15% (normal protein), or 25% (high protein). They were overfed during the final eight weeks of their 10- to 12-week stay. These protein diets provided about 40% more energy — 954 calories a day — than a weight-stabilizing diet.

Everybody gained weight, with no difference between men or women. On one hand, you can see that taking more protein in has the ability to increase your weight. The low-protein group gained about seven pounds, the normal group 13 pounds, and the high-protein group more than 14 pounds. Basically, if you don’t burn this off, it becomes stored calories in your body.

Weight gain when eating a low-protein diet (where you get five percent of energy from protein) was blunted compared with weight gain when eating a normal protein diet, with the same number of extra calories. But calories alone contributed to the increase in body fat. On the other hand, protein contributed to the changes in how you spend energy and your lean body mass — but not to the increase in body fat. This is the key finding.

The takeaway message: calories are more significant than protein for those who are taking in high amounts of energy but wanting to keep the pounds off. And the old adage continues to hold water: burn more calories than you take in each day and you will shed pounds over time.

Next Post: Why You Should Try Fish Oil for Asthma
Previous Post: Three Teas That Combat Cholesterol

Tags: body fat, body mass, Body Mass Index, calories, Health News, obesity, protein, shed pounds