High Protein Foods for Weight Loss | How eating Protein helps you Lose Weight

Do you want to lose weight or gain muscle mass, whatever your goal is having a diet high in protein is always recommended.

Protein helps us in achieving so many of our fitness and health related goals.

In this post we will look at how important protein is for us, how it helps us lose weight and burn belly fat. I will also share some of the best High Protein foods list for weight loss. Keep reading!

Going on a high-protein diet may help you tame your hunger, which could help you lose weight.

You can try it by adding some extra protein to your meals. Give yourself a week, boosting protein gradually.

Remember, calories still count. You'll want to make good choices when you pick your protein.

If you plan to add a lot of protein to your diet, or if you have liver or kidney disease, check with your doctor first.

Why You should be consuming protein?

The health effects of fat and carbs are controversial. However, almost everyone agrees that protein is important.

Most people eat enough protein to prevent deficiency, but some individuals would do better with a much higher protein intake.

Numerous studies suggest that a high-protein diet has major benefits for weight loss and metabolic health.

Besides this protein consuming protein has numerous benefits such as:

1. Increases muscle mass and strength

Protein is the building block of your muscles.

Therefore, eating adequate amounts of protein helps you maintain your muscle mass and promotes muscle growth when you do strength training.

2. Lowers your blood pressure

High blood pressure is a major cause of heart attacks, strokes, and chronic kidney disease.

Interestingly, higher protein intake has been shown to lower blood pressure.

3. Helps your body repair itself after injury

Protein can help your body repair after it has been injured.

This makes perfect sense, as it forms the main building blocks of your tissues and organs.

4. Good for your bones

An ongoing myth perpetuates the idea that protein — mainly animal protein — is bad for your bones.

This is based on the idea that protein increases acid load in the body, leading to calcium leaching from your bones in order to neutralize the acid.

However, most long-term studies indicate that protein, including animal protein, has major benefits for bone health.

People who eat more protein tend to maintain bone mass better as they age and have a much lower risk of osteoporosis and fractures.

 

How Protein helps in weight loss?

How does eating protein helps in weight loss you must be wondering. The answer to this question is simple-

1. Protein helps curbing hunger levels, reduces appetite

Studies show that protein is by far the most filling. It helps you feel more full — with less food

This is partly because protein reduces your level of the hunger hormone ghrelin. It also boosts the levels of peptide YY, a hormone that makes you feel full

These effects on appetite can be powerful. In one study, increasing protein intake from 15% to 30% of calories made overweight women eat 441 fewer calories each day without intentionally restricting anything.

If you need to lose weight or belly fat, consider replacing some of your carbs and fats with protein. It can be as simple as making your potato or rice serving smaller while adding a few extra bites of meat or fish.

2. Protein helps reduce cravings

If you eat protein you would feel much satiated and more protein may reduce cravings and desire for late-night snacking. Merely having a high-protein breakfast may have a powerful effect.

3. Boosts metabolism and increases fat burning

Eating can boost your metabolism for a short while.

That’s because your body uses calories to digest and make use of the nutrients in foods. This is referred to as the thermic effect of food (TEF).

However, not all foods are the same in this regard. In fact, protein has a much higher thermic effect than fat or carbs — 20–35% compared to 5–15%

High protein intake has been shown to significantly boost metabolism and increase the number of calories you burn. This can amount to 80–100 more calories burned each day

All these points concludes how protein actually helps in weight loss.
Adding protein in your daily diet will help you keep full and controls your hunger level so that way you won't be munching on different dishes throughout the day. One of the main determinant of fat loss is consumption of low calories, so if you are already feeling satiated and full throughout the day, you will not overeat and it will become very easy for you to stay in a caloric deficit.

Upping your protein intake can not only help you lose weight but keep it off in the long term.

High Protein Food List for Weight Loss

1. Eggs
2. Yogurt
3. Peanut Butter
4. Lentils
5. Oats
6. Salmon
7. Chicken Breast
8. Lamb
9. Milk
10. Cottage Cheese
11. Chia seeds
12. Flax seeds
13. Pumpkin seeds
14. Green peas
15. Quinoa

It's a good idea to change up your protein foods. For instance, you could have salmon or other fish that's rich in omega-3s, beans or lentils that give you fiber as well as protein, walnuts on your salad, or almonds on your oatmeal.

How much protein are you getting? Here's how many grams of protein are in these foods:

• 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese: 12.4g
• 3 ounces tofu, firm: 9g
• 1/2 cup cooked lentils: 9g
• 2 tablespoons natural-style peanut butter (7g) or almond butter (6.7g)
• 3 oz skinless chicken breast: 26g
• 3 oz fish fillet (depending on type of fish): 17-20g
• 1 ounce provolone cheese: 7g
• 1/2 cup cooked kidney beans: 7.7g
• 1 ounce almonds: 6g
• 1 large egg: 6g
• 4 ounces low-fat plain yogurt: 6g
• 4 ounces soy milk: 3.5g
• 4 ounces low-fat milk: 4g

The Bottom Line

Because a high-protein diet boosts metabolism and leads to an automatic reduction in calorie intake and cravings, many people who increase their protein intake tend to lose weight almost instantly.
One study found that overweight women who ate 30% of their calories from protein lost 11 pounds (5 kg) in 12 weeks — though they didn’t intentionally restrict their diet.
Protein also has benefits for fat loss during intentional calorie restriction.
In a 12-month study in 130 overweight people on a calorie-restricted diet, the high-protein group lost 53% more body fat than a normal-protein group eating the same number of calories.
Of course, losing weight is just the beginning. Maintaining weight loss is a much greater challenge for most people.

A modest increase in protein intake has been shown to help with weight maintenance. In one study, increasing protein from 15% to 18% of calories reduced weight regain by 50%.
If you want to keep off excess weight, consider making a permanent increase in your protein intake.

Start having more protein into your daily diet. It would be as easy as adding few more chicken pieces into your plate and lower down some rice and potatoes.

Add these high protein foods into your daily diet and see the fat loss and muscle building results that you always wanted.