Put Your Protein Where Your Mouth Is

Did you get fat during the holidays? Time to cut back on biscuits and gravy. True, calories are important. Just as important, though, are the food choices you make. And to that I say, protein is king.

For instance, if you need to shrink the jiggle around your waist, cutting calories but increasing protein is key. Here’s the proof. In a recent study 20 healthy, young resistance-trained athletes were examined for energy expenditure for one week and fed a mixed diet (15 percent protein, 100 percent of the habitual energy intake) in the second week, followed by a hypoenergetic, or lower-calorie, diet (60 percent of the habitual energy intake) containing either 15 percent  protein (control group) or 35 percent protein (high-protein group) for two weeks.¹ The subjects continued their habitual training throughout the study. The lower-protein group lost 3.5 pounds of lean body mass, whereas the high-protein group lost only 0.66 pounds. So if looking pretty and losing weight is your goal, bump up your protein.

In a related study, scientists wanted to determine whether protein supplementation prior to an acute bout of weight training or heavy resistance training would influence postexercise resting energy expenditure.² They took eight resistance-trained subjects (five men, three women) and put them in a double-blind, two-trial crossover design. On the second day of trial one, subjects got either 18 grams of whey protein, two grams of carbohydrate and 1.5 grams of fat or one gram of whey protein, 19 grams of carbohydrate and one gram of fat 20 minutes prior to a single bout of resistance training (nine exercises, four sets, 70 to 75 percent of one-rep max). So what happened?

Compared with baseline, metabolic rates were elevated significantly in both groups at 24 and 48 hours after the workout. Twenty-four hours later, however, the higher-protein group showed a significantly greater response. Fat oxidation was elevated in both groups.

The researchers concluded that timing protein intake may be a simple and effective strategy for increasing energy expenditure. Furthermore, increasing resting energy expenditure could facilitate bodyfat reduction and improve body composition if nutritional intake is stable.

So there you have it: two more studies showing that 1) you need to up your protein intake when you cut calories (unless you want to lose muscle), 2) the preworkout feeding may be perhaps the most important meal of the day, and 3) protein supersedes carbs as the most important macronutrient. In fact, I’d rank the macronutrients as follows: protein, fat and, lastly, carbs.

Editor’s note: Jose Antonio, Ph.D., is the CEO of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (www.theissn.org); also check out his site www.TheWeekendWorkout.com.

References

¹ Mettler, S., et al. (2009). Increased protein intake reduces lean body mass loss during weight loss in athletes. Med Sci Sports Exerc. In press.

² Hackney, K.J., et al. (2009). Timing protein intake increases energy expenditure 24 hours post-resistance training. Med Sci Sports Exerc. In press.