The obesity epidemic is not an issue of fat gain, but an issue of muscle loss
Muscle is the biggest organ in the body and one of the keys to health and longevity. There is a silent muscle loss epidemic that is going unnoticed. We are more focused on being over-fat, but the real issue is that we are under-muscled. Muscle mass is our metabolic currency; it the largest sit of glucose disposal and controls many of the metabolic diseases we see today.
The more muscle you have, the less chance of mortality, you are stronger, you are healthier in terms of your immune system. Males who can do less than ten push-ups have a 40% increase chance of heart attacks. The number one reason older people end up in nursing homes is not that they are sick, its because they are not strong enough to get up out of a chair, or they fall down a break a hip due to limited muscle and weak bones.
Muscles can lower inflammation and decrease the chance of cancer and other inflammatory diseases: the bigger your belly, the smaller your brain.
High-protein diets have come and gone for decades, their popularity rising and falling like the ocean tides. Who hasn’t heard of The Zone, the Atkins diet, or Carnivore diet? With unbalanced meal plans that sometimes restrict entire food groups, these fad diets often fail to meet our essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber need, but they do usually lead to significant weight loss. Life is made from protein; we use protein (amino acids) as they are the building blocks for skin, hair, organs, neurotransmitters, hormones, everything!!
We have been wrong on every macronutrient.
For years we were told that fat was bad for us, and now we know this is not the case. We were told to eat less fat and eat more carbohydrates (grains, cereals, bread, pasta), and we were wrong. We now know that eating processed carbs, and high sugar is bad for us due to the high release of insulin, which leads to diabetes and obesity.
We're told that eating a high protein diet, especially red meat, is bad for use. But what if we are wrong about that as well? Protein is the answer to the obesity epidemic. We are grossly misinformed by the media and flawed epigenetic studies that demonize animal protein, which has to lead us to the sick and obese society that we live in today. If we're not eating protein, then we must eat more fats or more carbohydrates to reach our calorie requirements. All foods fit into these three categories of macronutrients, and if you lower one, you must increase the other two.
Protein needs are based on lean muscle mass and age, not on gender. The more lean muscle mass you have, want or need, the more protein you will need in your diet. You might like to think we can use more plant proteins, but guess what? We tried that already, it's called the food pyramid, and it failed miserably when it comes to preventing illness and disease.
Most plant-based proteins are also high in carbohydrates, and it's impossible to reach the daily protein requirements and not overeat on carbohydrates. For one small chicken breast (120g), you would need to eat six cups of quinoa, which is 600calories. Plant protein and animal protein as substantially different, and the amount of plant food required to replace animal protein levels is defiantly not sustainable for the environment or our health.
Small groups of individuals are making a lot of noise and claims, investing billions of dollars in promoting grains, cereals, and plant-based foods without the research to back it up. For example, you can find oats in the supermarket advertising that they can lower cholesterol, but foods like eggs are much better at lowering cholesterol, and yet food regulation bodies do not allow egg companies to make the same claims?
With the media touting so many high-protein diets, it’s hard to pin down precisely what is considered a high-protein diet. Dietary Reference intakes recommend a wide range—anywhere from 10% to 35% protein based on total calories. Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) are set at a minimum of 0.8 g/kg body weight, or about 0.4 g/lb, but most nutrition professionals clam we need 1.2 to 1.4 g/kg. Athletes are told to eat 1.6-2.4g/kg body weight. Which method should you use? The higher your diet is in protein while calories are controlled, the more lean muscle you can maintain. The obesity epidemic is not an issue of fat gain, but an issue of muscle loss. We are eating in a way that is not supporting a healthy existence.
Please understand that the RDA is the minimum amount of protein required to “prevent disease” but not to function optimally. As mentioned earlier, as we age, the demand for protein intake increases; this is also true for athletes, people with chronic illnesses, people aiming to lose fat, people with metabolic issues, and people with high-stress levels.
“Whenever you’re talking about weight loss, you should always base protein needs on body weight, not a percentage of calories,” says Donald Layman, Ph.D., professor emeritus of nutrition at the University of Illinois. The percentage of calories is very misleading. Drop your calories and protein can quickly dip below minimum levels. Layman aims for a moderate intake of protein between 120-130 g/day, or about 1.4-1.5 g/kg body weight (nearly double the RDA). “The average American woman eats about 70 g of protein a day, a man around 90 g per day, so most people would consider this a high-protein diet,” says Layman. In addition to protein, Layman’s laboratory diets usually include five servings of vegetables, two to three servings of fruit, and three servings of complex carbohydrates.
By increasing your protein intake, you will:
Have more energy
Increase lean muscle mass
Lose body fat
Have less brain fog
Age slower and live longer
Feel better
Regulate hormones (increase libido)
Why do we need so much protein?
In his commentary on adults’ protein needs published in Nutrition & Metabolism in March 2009, Layman cites research showing that increased protein intake can benefit patients with osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, and sarcopenia, in addition to obesity. Furthermore, as we age, our ability to utilize protein efficiently decreases. [3]
“If you asked the average consumer who needs more protein, a 16-year-old or a 65-year-old, most people would say the 16-year-old,” says Layman. “In reality, it’s the 65-year-old. They likely need fewer calories, but they need more high-quality, nutrient-dense protein (along with exercise and specifically resistance training) to prevent muscle wasting.” Weight loss itself raises protein needs. “Losing weight is a stress on the body,” he says, “and any stress will increase protein needs.”
Protein has greater satiety than either carbohydrates or fat, making people feel fuller and more satisfied for a longer period. As a result, they are better able to control their appetite and eat less.[1,2]
Another way in which protein benefits weight control is via thermogenesis, or the amount of energy needed to digest, absorb, and metabolize nutrients. Because protein has a higher rate of thermogenesis than both carbohydrates and fat, it uses up more calories.[1-3]
But by far, the biggest impact on metabolism and energy expenditure involves protein’s role in both muscle building and muscle maintenance. “You need at least 30g of protein in one meal to stimulate muscle building,” says Layman. “That’s the minimum.
On the other hand, anything over 50 g and you’re maxed out. The protein then just gets oxidized, and there’s no muscle benefit. To give you an idea of how much that is, sirloin steak contains about 8g of protein per ounce, so 6 oz would be all you would need per meal.”
Unfortunately, hitting that 30-50g range at every meal can be a problem, particularly for adults, who tend to eat almost all of their protein in a single meal: dinner.
"Since positive protein balance only lasts about three hours after ingestion, it’s important to eat enough protein throughout the day,” says Layman, “and that can be pretty challenging for most people.” Thanks to our penchant for high-carbohydrate foods such as pasta, it’s not surprising that lunch often falls short. Breakfast, however, is by far the poorest protein meal of the day for most people. According to Layman, most adults average only 10 g of protein for the morning meal. For health coaches, this means working with clients to coming up with creative ways to eat a high protein breakfast.
Building lean muscle mass isn’t the only benefit of high-protein diets; eating this way also preserves lean body mass during weight loss.4 “During starvation, we break down about 50% lean tissue and 50% fat. If you lose weight using a high-carbohydrate diet similar to the Food Guide Pyramid, you’ll be breaking down about 35% lean tissue and 65% fat,” says Layman. “Now go on a high-protein diet, and our research shows lean tissue breakdown drops to 20% while fat breakdown increases to 80%. Add exercise to the mix, and protein breakdown drops even lower—below 10%.”
Other new research points to an inverse relationship between protein intake and abdominal obesity, the worst type of fat there is. But to date, only a few studies have been conducted, so the jury is still out. [5]
When it comes to determining whether a client you will benefit from a high-protein diet, there’s no one size fits all; it depends on many different lifestyle factors such as stress, sleep, training history, gut health, microbiome, hormones, etc...
References
1. Brehm BJ, D’Alessio DA. Benefits of high-protein weight-loss diets: Enough evidence for practice? Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2008
2. Paddon-Jones D, Westman E, Mattes RD, et al. Protein, weight management, and satiety. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008
3. Layman DK. Dietary Guidelines should reflect new understandings about adult protein needs. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2009
4. Layman DK, Evans E, Baum JI, et al. Dietary protein and exercise have additive effects on body composition during weight loss in adult women. J Nutr. 2005
5. Lee K, Lee J, Bae WK, et al. Efficacy of low-calorie, partial meal replacement diet plans on weight and abdominal fat in obese subjects with metabolic syndrome: A double-blind randomized controlled trial of two diet plans — one high in protein and one nutritionally balanced. Int J Clin Pract. 2009
