If you're looking to strip off the final layers of body fat that seem to plague you no matter what you do, there's good evidence showing that a higher protein, low carb diet is a good way to go. We already know that out of the three main macronutrients, protein is the one that will boost the metabolism the highest due to the increased calorie burn from digestion (up to 30%), whereas as carbohydrates and fat only cause an about 5 and 2% of the total calories consumed to be burned up through digestion respectively.

In addition to that, protein is also the macronutrient that seems to be the most satisfying, meaning you will have less desire to eat for a longer period of time. This can also come in handy when trying to maintain a lowered calorie intake when hunger pains would normally beg you to go running to the pantry in search of food.

Recently researchers conducted a study looking at further implications of a high protein diet and found some interesting results.

The object ive of the study was to compare the typical hypocaloric diet (15% protein, 30% fat, 55% carbohydrates) with a low-carb, high protein diet consisting of 30% protein, 30% fat, and 40% carbohydrates on the mitrochondrial oxidative metabolism over an eight week period.

The measurements taken for consideration were anthropometric, biochemical variables, resting energy expenditure, as well as mitochondrial oxidation both before and after the study was completed.

The results indicated that the high protein diet produced a greater weight loss than the control diet and along with this, there was also an activation in the mitochondrial oxidation that was found in the high-protein group.

This demonstrates than that the higher protein diet was correlated with a higher final resting energy expenditure and a further decrease in total fat mass. So, if you're looking for an effective way to increase your weight loss, bumping up your protein intake does prove to be an effective method.

Reference: Abete, I. (2008) Effects of two energy restricted diets differing in the carbohydrate/protein ratio on weight loss and oxidative changes of obese men. Int. J. Food Sci. Nutr. Jul 25:1-13. Post by: Shannon-Clark