Can protein help me lose weight?

We’re often asked the question ‘can protein help me lose weight?’, and today we’re delving right into the topic. A protein-rich diet brings with it so many health benefits, from supporting a healthy heart to boosting your mental health.

Keep reading to find out more about protein’s role in weight loss, and to fully answer your question of, ‘can protein help me lose weight?’.

Why is protein important?

Protein is one of the key macronutrients, alongside fat and carbohydrates, that help to fuel our bodies. It is, in fact, so important that its name is derived from the Greek word ‘proteios’, meaning ‘primary’ or ‘first rank’.¹

When we digest protein from food and drinks, it gets broken down into amino acids that are crucial for virtually every bodily function. They are needed for building and repairing tissues, making hormones and neurotransmitters and supporting overall health. A protein-rich diet can help you:

• Lower your risk of osteoporosis²
• Reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease³
• Speed up injury recovery⁴
• Lower blood pressure⁵
• Maintain good bone health⁶

Unlike fat and carbohydrates, the body cannot store protein, which is why you need to aim for at least 60g of it per day to keep yourself replenished. Head to our Programme for nutritionist-developed recipes that are delicious, and high in protein.

Whether you’ve been asking the question, ‘can protein help me lose weight?’, or you’re simply aiming to maximise your weight loss efforts, then keep on reading.

Can protein help me lose weight?

Not only does protein provide those many aforementioned benefits to your overall health, it can actually also help you lose weight. It manages to do this by:

• Improving your sleeping metabolic rate: if you’re wanting to know ‘can protein help me lose weight?’, then you should know it can help you burn more calories even in your sleep! Studies have shown that eating plenty of protein can increase calories burned by 260 per night.⁷
• Increasing satiety and decreasing hunger: Protein has been linked to an increased secretion of the satiety hormones GIP and GLP-1 and a reduction of ghrelin, the hunger hormone.⁸ This helps you stay fuller for longer, and reduces cravings throughout the day.
• Improving thermogenesis: Thermogenesis is the process of producing heat by burning calories, and protein has been shown to have a much higher thermic effect than carbohydrates and fat.⁹ This means that on a high protein diet, you’ll be burning more calories around the clock.
• Boosting metabolism by maintaining muscle mass: Following high protein diets can help maintain muscle mass during weight loss, which helps keep your metabolism high while losing excess fat.¹⁰

As well as helping you lose weight, protein can help you keep it off long term. By increasing your protein from 15% to 18% of your calories, you can reduce weight re-gain by up to 50%.¹¹ So if you were wondering ‘can protein help me lose weight?’, then the answer doesn’t just stop at ‘yes’, as it can help you lose weight and keep it off for good.

Tips for adding more protein to your diet

1. Pre-plan your meals: Planning your weekly meals in advance ensures you can more easily reach your daily target of 60g of protein. Our Programme provides simple meal plans with tasty recipes developed by our team of nutritionists that are specifically designed to help you reach those daily nutrition goals.
2. Diversify your protein sources: If you’re feeling uninspired in the kitchen, try opting for different forms of protein each day. For example, one day you could enjoy dishes like high protein pasta, others you might like protein banana pancakes, others you may just want to add a handful of nuts and seeds to your food if you’re eating out.
3. Try a supplement: If you were wondering ‘can protein help me lose weight?’ but you’re not sure where to start, consider trying a supplement. A good protein supplement is ideal for boosting your intake on days where you’re too busy to cook or aren’t sure what foods would help you reach that 60g protein target. Our Clear Protein couldn’t be easier, or tastier; simply add to water for a refreshingly juicy alternative to milky protein shakes. Each serving provides 16g of protein in under 70 calories so they’re ideal for supporting healthy weight loss. We recommend enjoying supplements alongside a quick salad, or a simple recipe like fruit, nuts and yoghurt.

The bottom line is that protein can help you lose weight and keep it off long term, as well as many other health benefits, so it’s important to prioritise getting in at least 60g of it everyday. To track your protein intake and plan tasty meals that help you reach your goals, sign up to our Programme, and to easily boost your daily intake right away, try our Clear Protein today (now available in the UK, Australia and New Zealand).