Higher-protein meals may help overweight and obese people burn more fat, the results of a small study suggest.
Research has shown that overweight people are less efficient at burning fat after a meal than thinner people are. In the new study, Australian researchers looked at whether the protein composition of a meal affects that weight-related gap.
They found that overweight men and women burned more post-meal fat when they ate a high-protein breakfast and lunch than when they had lower-protein meals. That is, the added protein seemed to modify the fat-burning deficit seen in heavy individuals.
"Our research suggests that people with higher body fat burn fat better after a high-protein meal than people with lower levels of body fat," lead researcher Dr. Marijka Batterham, of the University of Wollongong in New South Wales told Reuters Health.
A number of studies have suggested that high-protein diets may help people shed weight more easily -- possibly, in part, because protein suppresses appetite better than fat or carbohydrates do.
The current study did not look at weight loss, so it's not possible to tell whether the increased fat-burning seen in overweight participants would translate into fewer pounds over time, Batterham said.
But answering that question, she said, will be the next step.
The findings, published in the journal Nutrition & Dietetics, are based on 18 adults whose post-meal metabolism was tested on 3 separate days. The average age was 40 years, eight subjects were overweight, six subjects had a normal weight, and four were obese.
More : uk.reuters.com
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