You don’t need to be Einstein to know that a balanced approach to losing weight is essential for maintaining energy levels and overall health. If you think you need to starve yourself and minimize the amount of food you eat, think again! Weight loss is more about the quality rather than quantity of food we eat.
Protein powders are a great supplement to help you lose weight in a natural, safe way. They provide important amino acids and help to keep your immune system strong. In this article we examine why adding protein powder to your weight loss diet is a very good idea!
Protein – The Bricks of Life
The basic components of the food we eat are proteins, carbohydrates and fat. Obviously minimizing the ingestion of fat is the first thing we need to do when considering weight loss. However carbohydrates also have a tricky way of being transformed, through complex metabolic processes, into fatty substances. So they can also lead to weight gain. The only substances that are extremely hard to transform into fat are proteins!
Proteins usually don't have an energetic value, but rather a structural value. What does that mean? Well, think about a wood burning fireplace. The wood that burns are the fatty substances and carbohydrat
es, while the proteins are the bricks of the fireplace. When starting a weight loss diet people often inadvertently cut the amount of protein they eat when it’s not the proteins that lead to weight gain (unless we are talking about positive gains in lean muscle mass).
Additionally, proteins have a stimulative effect on the metabolism. Eating high-protein foods increases the speed of chemical reactions in the body by about 20 to 30 percent (Journal of the American College of Nutrition), leading to the increased burning of fat. Fat and carbs certainly don’t do this! Using lean protein powder is a great way to kick-start your metabolism and speed up the burning of kilojoules.
Hard Training
When you’re training hard muscles need a constant supply of amino acids, which are the primary constituents of proteins. Amino acids help repair the muscles after moderate to intense exercise and without these amino acids you may “burn” muscle tissue along with fat. Weight loss diets usually don't provide the necessary amount of protein, which may lead to muscle catabolism (break down).
Protein Powder Fat Burning Additives
Some protein powders also contain metabolic-enhancing and fat-burning additives. L-Carnitine is a molecule naturally found in the human body that transports fatty substances to the place of their burning. It promotes weight loss through more effective fat degradation. Caffeine is a substance that increases the overall intensity of chemical reactions in the human body, making it more alert as well as boosting the metabolism. Hydroxycitric Acid (which you may know as Hydroxycut) is also an effective fat-burning additive that may be found in some protein powders designed specifically for weight loss. It also inhibits the metabolism of carbohydrates. Other commonly used, metabolic enhancing and fat-burning ingredients include Green Tea extract, Guarana (caffeine) and Forskolin (extracted from the Coleus Forskohlii plant). Chromium is another interesting, often-used additive that helps to manage carbohydrate metabolism and reduces the need to snack between meals. Choline and Inositol can assist in fat metabolism and energy production.
SO! Using protein powder is a great way to boost your metabolism, increase your energy levels and keep your muscles in great shape while undergoing your weight losing regime. However, a high-protein diet that includes lean meat, fish, egg whites, turkey and chicken are also essential for you to achieve your weight loss and overall health goals. You shouldn’t rely on protein powder as being your primary source of protein. You should also eat enough fruits and vegetables to provide a constant supply of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
Good Luck!
