Exchange Carbs With Protein In My Diet?

A new study on losing weight was recently published in the Journal of Nutrition found that diets with more protein may be better for reducing body fat and improving the fat in your blood also. The researchers suggested that dieters exchange some carbohydrates for protein.

Over the course of a year a moderate-protein diet worked better than a regular high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet to help adults shed body fat. The other benefits had to do with increasing "healthy" HDL cholesterol and decreasing triglycerides, which can clog the arteries.

For the study all participants were given menu plans and attended weekly meetings with a dietitian to help them stick with their lifestyle changes. If you don’t have a personal dietitian and don’t think you are getting enough protein you can find Supplements like Whey Protein powder which athletes and body builders have used for years. Whey protein is also low in calories, tastes great, and mixes easily in juice, milk, or water.

One of the problems with any diet is plan is going about it the right way if you want to succeed, and that is where the dietitians helped. They planned menus and conducted weekly nutrition education sessions. If they had to do it by themselves the individual results might have varied somewhat.

If you want to cut out carbohydrates by modifying your eating plan to include more protein you also have to change your approach to how many meals you consume each day.

What that means is the idea of eating around six small meals over the course of a day works when the diet is high carb, low fat because people are hungry more often, but it's opposite for a moderate protein diet.

The dietitians advised that it is more important to eat three consistent meals with balanced protein and carbohydrates for each meal. A higher protein diet is not more protein at dinner, but balanced protein at breakfast and lunch.

The bottom line was that after a year, the average weight loss was similar in the two groups, the moderate protein diet lost 23 pounds, and around 19 pounds with the high carbohydrate diet.

The difference between the two groups was the protein diet lost more fat mass, and had greater improvements in both HDL and triglyceride levels.

Dr. Donald K. Layman, of the University of Illinois in Urbana was the lead researcher, and he concluded that the extra protein at each meal helps dieters preserve "metabolically active" muscle mass. Along with that the diet's lower carbohydrate content means lower levels of the blood-sugar-regulating hormone insulin.

According to Dr. Layman the diet encourages the body to shed more stored fat. The greater improvement in triglycerides, he said, is largely the result of cutting carbs, which can raise triglyceride levels.

My personal philosophy on nutrition, along with everything else in life is Moderation. I like the idea of a well balanced moderate protein diet, not only to control blood sugars but because the body needs all of the nutrients that supply energy carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Each category has a special purpose and is essential in the proper amounts, and causes problems for the body in the wrong amounts. Too much of any of these nutrients can lead to an increase in body fat. Add a good exercise program to the mix and you have everything it takes for a healthy lifestyle.