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Are high-protein diets the best option for weight loss?

¿Las dietas altas en proteína son la mejor opción para perder peso?

We know there's a lot of debate when it comes to high-protein diets, and for anyone who doesn't know much about nutrition, carbohydrates and fats are known as the enemies that make you gain weight, right? On the other hand, protein takes longer to digest and keeps you full for longer, and therefore, it must be the solution.

Unfortunately, it's not that simple.

Protein and Weight Loss

There are three main mechanisms that could justify the argument that a high-protein diet leads to weight loss.

Thermogénesis: more energy is spent on protein metabolism than on metabolizing carbohydrates or fats. 20-30% of the energy derived from protein foods is actually used in their metabolism, compared to carbohydrates and fats which use approximately 5% and 15% respectively.
Satiety: as protein takes longer to break down in the intestine, it remains in the stomach for longer, which delays gastric emptying and therefore increases the feeling of fullness.
Decreased Calorie Intake: as a result of increased satiety, one experiences a decrease in total calorie intake. In other words, since you stay full for longer, you don't feel the need to eat as frequently and therefore your total energy (caloric) intake decreases.

What happens when protein becomes my main energy source?

High-protein, low-carbohydrate diets cause the body to enter ketosis.
While on a high-protein diet, the body's primary energy source, glucose, is not available.
The body uses triglycerides (fat) as the new energy source. This causes ketones.
Ketosis promotes fat burning and reduced appetite.
After a few weeks, the body adapts and ketone levels return to normal, and the body burns fat more efficiently.

What are the negative aspects of a high-protein diet?

With an increase in protein metabolism, there is an increase in uric acid production. This can lead to gout and uric acid kidney stones.
By restricting the amount of food you eat, you will inevitably enter a caloric deficit.
Maintaining a high-protein diet means eliminating other nutritional foods, which in turn leads to a nutritional deficit. With this diet, carbohydrates, as well as fruits and vegetables, are avoided, at least in the required quantities. Therefore, vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber (also derived from many carbohydrate-containing foods) that are found mainly in fruits and vegetables, cannot be obtained.
Possible long-term anxieties and rebound effect.
No changes in eating habits are made.

What does scientific evidence say about high-protein diets?

Your body weight depends on total caloric intake more than on macronutrient ratios.

A controlled trial compared several equal-calorie diets composed of different macronutrient ratios and concluded that caloric restriction, not macronutrient ratio, determined weight loss. Comparing low-carbohydrate and high-protein diets at 6 weeks and 12 weeks (in different studies) led to the same conclusion, as did comparing a low-fat/high-protein diet with a high-fat/standard-protein diet.

In people suffering from hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, or even type 2 diabetes, the results are more or less the same: caloric restriction, not macronutrient ratios, leads to weight loss. Two studies noted, however, that lean mass was better preserved in women (but not men) on a high-protein diet.

In conclusion, losing weight requires a hypocaloric diet, and as long as this caloric restriction is not too high, you can have a macronutrient ratio that best suits your lifestyle, exercise, and above all, your mental well-being.

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Are high-protein diets the best option for weight loss?

Protein and Weight Loss

What happens when protein becomes my main energy source?

What are the negative aspects of a high-protein diet?

What does scientific evidence say about high-protein diets?

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