Transform Your Health: Discover the Role of Protein in Weight Loss

18th September 2024

When it comes to losing weight, it’s no secret that protein can help you achieve your weight loss goal. Dieters and gym-goers alike champion high-protein diets as a way to lose weight and help you keep and grow muscle.

But how essential is protein really? And how much protein should you be eating to lose weight?

Keeping you fuller for longer

For weight loss, the most important role of protein is the promotion of satiety. That’s the feeling of fullness and satisfaction you get after eating. It’s a signal to your body that you have consumed enough food.

If you’ve just started on a calorie deficit, it’s normal to feel hungry from time to time. A high-protein diet can counteract this hunger, preventing unnecessary snacking and bingeing.

And there’s long term benefits, too. Protein boosts your metabolism, so your body burns more calories, even when resting. This can help you maintain your weight. It’s also good for your bones and high-protein diets can even prevent bone fractures in women diagnosed with osteoporosis.

Maintaining muscle while losing weight

Protein from your diet provides the essential building blocks for muscle growth and repair. While you are maintaining weight, it’s easy to keep your existing muscle by doing some regular strength training.

But while you lose weight – particularly when you have a large calorie deficit – it’s almost inevitable that you will lose some muscle. This is why most people should lose weight gradually over time. If you lose weight too fast, you risk losing muscle as well as fat.

To keep muscle, you need to keep exercising while you lose weight. But it’s also important to consume enough protein in your diet. Supplementing with high-quality peptides UK can further support muscle retention and recovery, ensuring you get the essential building blocks needed for your fitness journey.

How much protein should I eat?

The official RDA (recommended dietary allowance) of protein is 0.8 grams for every kilogram of body weight. If you weigh 70 kilograms, the RDA is 56 grams of protein per day.

But the RDA is widely regarded as an absolute minimum and people who take part in regular physical activity will need significantly more protein.

A common recommendation is 1.2g to 1.8g of protein, depending on your activity level and weight goal. If you are on a calorie deficit, up to 1.6g is ideal, although you may need to eat less to balance your intake against carbs and fats.

Importance of carbs and fats

While most dieters talk about protein, carbohydrates and fats are equally important macros to think about.

Carbs provide your body an efficient source of energy, converting quickly into the glucose (“blood sugars”) that powers your muscles and brain. Your body can hold onto excess energy from carbs for up to 24 hours.

Contrary to popular belief, carbs are not an enemy. You need to eat carbs every day to provide enough energy to your body. If you don’t eat enough carbs, you can feel tired and weak, which can impact your day-to-day life and keep you less active.

Planning your macros

A typical balanced diet is made up of 40-65% carbohydrates, 20-35% fats and 10-35% protein. That’s based on recommendations from the USDA.

“Eat more protein” is good advice for most people looking to lose weight. But, if you have a large calorie deficit, eating more protein means lowering your intake of carbs and fats.

Failing to eat enough carbs or fats can have a negative impact on your health and wellbeing, as much as not eating enough protein can.

In reality, the optimal balance between carbs, fats and protein will depend on your body weight and activity level, as well as your age, gender and weight loss goal. There’s no macro ratio that is “one size fits all”.

One practical way to balance protein, carbs and fats is to use an online macro calculator. Gym Geek’s macro calculator takes into account your age, gender, weight, height and activity level to determine the optimal macronutrient ratio.

The high-protein macro ratio provides up to 1.8g of protein for every kilogram of body weight. It allocates 30% of your diet to fats, but it’s smart enough to adjust your protein and fat intake down to keep your diet balanced.

High-protein foods

A high-protein diet can be made up of animal-based foods, like meat, dairy and eggs, as well as plant-based sources of protein. Aim to eat a varied diet to get all the macro- and micro-nutrients you need.

Here are some of our favourite high-protein foods: