As I’ve discussed in several past articles, the popular belief that you must eat a high protein diet if you are trying to lose weight fast has got to be one of the biggest misconceptions in the weight loss industry.

Well, here’s even more proof that when it comes to burning body fat, a high protein diet is not necessary.

Now, before I share with you the results of these two studies, I have to be honest with you and say that I’m very careful in how I read and interpret many of these studies.

The problem is that most studies are done on individuals that don’t weight train in any manner.

So, as soon as you put them on a weight loss / fat burning workout they drop a lot of body weight fast.

The problem with those studies is that when you take any individual that normally isn’t very physically active, and all of a sudden you place them on a workout program several days a week, regardless of what type of workout, they will indeed lose weight initially.

So, it’s not necessarily the workout plan that was the key to the weight loss, but in fact the simple fact that they increased their physical activity.

That’s why you have to be careful when reading these studies.

However, what’s excellent about the two studies that I’m going to share with you here is that they were done on individuals that are very active, as a matter of fact they were done on competitive athletes.

These studies were performed to find out if a high protein diet had any effect on their body composition.

This would be interesting for you if you are looking to burn fat and tone up (…which if you’re reading this article and my site, then obviously you are).

In this study they took 23 college athletes that were experienced weight trainers.

They were placed on a 12 week, 4 days a week workout program.

They were divided into 3 groups:

1) Those that ate a low protein diet

2) Those that ate a typical protein diet (1.8 grams /kg of bodyweight)

3)  Those that ate a slightly higher protein diet (2 grams/kg of bodyweight)

Everyone ate an amount of calories that was less than what their body needed per day.

In other words, they were in a “calorie deficit” (as I’ve written a lot about).

Well, at the end of the 12 weeks they measured their body composition, meaning they measured how much body fat they had versus how much lean muscle mass they possesed.

The result?

No significant differences in body composition was measured between any of the 3 groups!

Did you get that?

That means that those that ate a low protein diet burned just as much body fat and gained just as much lean muscle mass as the group that ate a high protein diet.

Eating a diet high in protein was of no advantage whatsoever in their body compositions.

Another study had the exact results:

They took 15 young men who weight trained and performed cardio for an hour and a half, 3 times a week.

They also placed all of the groups in a calorie deficit, but with one eating a low amount of protein and the other on a higher protein diet…….total calories being the same.

At the end of the study there was also no difference in body composition between the high or low protein group.

Again, eating a high protein diet had no special effect……as most diet books and websites would like you to believe.

So, the next time someone tries to get you to buy their protein powder or bars, or suggests that you must be eating a high amount of protein if you want to lose weight, you’ll know that it’s nothing but a popular myth.

As I’ve been writing all along, it’s what type of calories you’re eating, it’s how many calories you’re eating……period!

Sincerely,

Jonathan Perez
Cleveland Firefighter
Certified ACE / IAFF / IAFC Firefighter Peer Fitness Trainer

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jonathan Perez has written many articles exposing the many weight loss programs and diet myths being spread about in the bodybuilding / fitness industry and on the internet.

His eBook, "Fat To Buff!", has helped many overweight individuals lose weight and burn body fat by detailing the workout program strategies and eating techniques that actually work at losing weight and building lean muscle tissue.

Many of Jonathan's other articles are located at www.FatToBuff.com/articles.html.

His main website is located at www.FatToBuff.com.