protein and weight loss

Hello again. Sorry it's been a while since I posted anything but I've been off getting married and only got back this week (to a whole wall of my face in folds).

While I was away on honeymoon, Sam emailed me to ask if eating more protein is the best way to lose weight.

Well, let's start with the basics. We get our enegry from macronutrients and there are 3 types of macronutrients - carbohydrate, fat and protein.

So how much energy do they all contain?

Carbohydrates: The two main types of carbohydrate are sugar and starch and both provide the same amount of energy (i.e. 1 g of either will give you 3.75 kcal).

Fat: Regardless of whether they are saturated (not so good for you) or unsaturated (much healthier), fat contains more than double the amount of calories as carbohydrate (9 kcals per gram).

Protein: Protein is needed for growth and repair but can also provide energy.  1 gram of protein gives you 4 kcals.

Women need around 2000 kcals a day whilst men need slightly more at 2500 kcals per day. If you want to lose weight, you need to use more energy than you eat. To lose weight in a safe and sensible way, nutritionists and dieticians recommend that you reduce your calorie intake by around 500 kcals a day. And whether you reduce your calories in the form of carbs, fat or protein, it shouldn't make any difference, provided you reduce your calorie intake.

Healthy eating guidelines state that over half of our energy should come from carbohydrate. Fat should make up for no more than a third of our energy for the day. This is because diets high in saturated fat can increase the risk of heart disease. The amount of protein we need in our diet changes throughout our lifetime but in the UK we tend to exceed how much we need.

So my advice for losing weight sensibly is to stick to the healthy eating guidelines. Eating more fibre is an important part of this as fibre is a carbohydrate which is not completely digested. It can also help to keep you feel full and so can help prevent you from snacking. Plus it only has approximately 2 kcals per gram. 

Protein can also help with feelings of fullness. Foods such as lentils and chickpeas are excellent sources of protein and fibre (meaning you get the benefits of both).

Hope that makes sense, Sam.

As ever, any questions, just drop me a line,

Dr Shilps

Hello again. Sorry it's been a while since I posted anything but I've been off getting married and only got back this week (to a whole wall of my face in folds).

While I was away on honeymoon, Sam emailed me to ask if eating more protein is the best way to lose weight.

Well, let's start with the basics. We get our enegry from macronutrients and there are 3 types of macronutrients - carbohydrate, fat and protein.

So how much energy do they all contain?

Carbohydrates: The two main types of carbohydrate are sugar and starch and both provide the same amount of energy (i.e. 1 g of either will give you 3.75 kcal).

Fat: Regardless of whether they are saturated (not so good for you) or unsaturated (much healthier), fat contains more than double the amount of calories as carbohydrate (9 kcals per gram).

Protein: Protein is needed for growth and repair but can also provide energy.  1 gram of protein gives you 4 kcals.

Women need around 2000 kcals a day whilst men need slightly more at 2500 kcals per day. If you want to lose weight, you need to use more energy than you eat. To lose weight in a safe and sensible way, nutritionists and dieticians recommend that you reduce your calorie intake by around 500 kcals a day. And whether you reduce your calories in the form of carbs, fat or protein, it shouldn't make any difference, provided you reduce your calorie intake.

Healthy eating guidelines state that over half of our energy should come from carbohydrate. Fat should make up for no more than a third of our energy for the day. This is because diets high in saturated fat can increase the risk of heart disease. The amount of protein we need in our diet changes throughout our lifetime but in the UK we tend to exceed how much we need.

So my advice for losing weight sensibly is to stick to the healthy eating guidelines. Eating more fibre is an important part of this as fibre is a carbohydrate which is not completely digested. It can also help to keep you feel full and so can help prevent you from snacking. Plus it only has approximately 2 kcals per gram. 

Protein can also help with feelings of fullness. Foods such as lentils and chickpeas are excellent sources of protein and fibre (meaning you get the benefits of both).

Hope that makes sense, Sam.

As ever, any questions, just drop me a line,

Dr Shilps