Nutrition

High Protein Diet Plans – Rapid Fat Loss Diet

December 24, 2009
By Adrian Anley

Protein is raw building material for the human body. Every year your body creates around 98% of new cells and these new cells come from the food we eat, specifically protein rich foods. Protein is the actual raw construction material for body cells like bricks are for building. Body structures made from protein include skin, hair, nails, bones, connective tissue and, muscle.

In a high protein diet your meals will primarily be complete proteins and then carbohydrates and fats. Briefly, complete proteins are found in foods that contain a balanced combination of all the essential and nonessential amino acids in the exact amounts required by the body for growth.

Protein can be found in vegetables, beans, legumes, and grains however, the protein in these foods is not considered “complete” because it lacks one or more of the essential amino acids. The complete proteins are those that come from animal sources such as eggs, milk and meat.

List of complete proteins used in high protein diet plans

Chicken breast
Turkey breast
Fish
Shellfish
Eggs (Mostly whites-use limited yolks)
Lean red meats (Top round, lean sirloin, flank)
Nonfat or low fat dairy products
Milk, egg, or whey-based protein powders.

For long term high protein diet plans are not ideal for sustaining a healthy lifestyle. The baseline diet of 50-55% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 15-20% fat is without a doubt the healthiest, most balanced way to eat, and most people will lose fat on these ratios just by making sure their calories come from good foods. As a short-term fat loss program there’s no question that eating more protein and less carbohydrates makes it easier for some people to lose body fat.

High protein diets consist of fairly low carbohydrates intake and so calories are also low. The result will be some muscle loss so to offset the drop in carbohydrates and keep your calories above “starvation level,” your protein intake must be increased.

While fending off muscle loss a high protein diet will also speed up the fat burning process. Protein foods speed up your metabolism because your body has to work harder to digest, process and utilize this nutrient compared to fat or carbohydrate. This protein effect is one of the reasons that a higher protein diet is more effective for fat loss than a high fat diet or a high carbohydrate diet. Too much of any food type can be stored as body fat, but protein is less likely to be converted to fat than any other nutrient.

When using high protein diet plans you need to drink more water than usual. Metabolizing protein requires more water than fats or carbohydrates, so it’s extremely important to consume extra water if you increase your protein. The standard recommendation for water re-hydration is 8 glasses a day so use that as a guide and make sure you drink more than that.

So, generally, as long as you don’t overdo the protein intake a high-protein, low or moderate carbohydrate diet is a good start as a temporary fat loss program. Nutrition programs should be cycled just like training programs. So after a week or two on the high protein diet you would switch to a much more balanced diet that contains a wide variety of foods, with less protein, more carbs and plenty of fruits, vegetables, complex carbohydrates and whole grains.

If you are interested in finding a fat burner plan that is both thorough and easy, try FatLoss4Idiots.

Share and Enjoy: