Protein is a key nutrient for weight loss. In fact, adding more protein to your diet is the easiest and most effective way to lose weight.
Studies show that protein can help curb your appetite and keep you from overeating. Therefore, starting your day with a high-protein breakfast may be an effective weight loss tip.
Should You Eat Breakfast?
In the past, skipping breakfast has been associated with weight gain.
We now have good evidence showing that recommendations to eat or skip breakfast have no effect on weight gain or loss. You can read more about that in this article (1).
However, eating breakfast may be a good idea for other reasons. For example, it may improve mental performance in school children, teenagers and certain patient groups (2, 3).
This may also depend on the quality of the breakfast. Even if the stereotypical breakfast (like high-sugar breakfast cereal) has no effect on weight, a breakfast that is high in weight loss friendly protein may have different effects.
Bottom Line: Recommendations to eat or skip breakfast have no effect on weight. However, the same may not apply to a high-protein breakfast.
How Protein Helps You Lose Weight
Protein is the single most important nutrient for weight loss.
This is because the body uses more calories to metabolize protein, compared to fat or carbs. Protein also keeps you feeling fuller for longer (4, 5, 6, 7, 8).
One study in women showed that increasing protein intake from 15 to 30 percent of total calories helped them eat 441 fewer calories per day. They also lost 11 pounds (5 kg) in just 12 weeks (9).
Another study found that increasing protein to 25 percent of total calories reduced late-night snacking by half and obsessive thoughts about food by 60 percent (10).
In yet another study, two groups of women were put on weight loss diets for 10 weeks. The groups ate the same amount of calories, but different amounts of protein.
All the women in the study lost weight. However, the high-protein group lost about half a kg (1.1 lbs) more and a larger percentage of body fat (11).
Protein may also help you maintain weight loss in the long term. A study found that increasing protein from 15 to 18 percent of calories made dieters regain 50 percent less weight (12, 13, 14).
Bottom Line: Adding protein to your diet is a very effective way to lose weight. It may also help dieters sustain long-term weight loss.
High-Protein Breakfasts Help You Eat Less Later
Many studies are examining how protein at breakfast affects eating behavior.
Some of them have shown that high-protein breakfasts reduce hunger and help people eat up to 135 fewer calories later in the day (15, 16, 17).
In fact, MRI scans have shown that eating a protein-rich breakfast reduces the signals in the brain that control food motivation and reward-driven behavior (18).
Protein also helps you feel full. This is because it activates the body's signals that curb appetite, which reduces cravings and overeating.
This is mostly due to a drop in the hunger hormone ghrelin and a rise in the fullness hormones peptide YY, GLP-1 and cholecystokinin (19, 20, 21).
Several studies have now demonstrated that eating a high-protein breakfast changes these hormones throughout the day (4, 16, 22, 23, 24, 25).
Bottom Line: High-protein breakfasts reduce calorie intake later in the day. They improve the levels of your appetite-regulating hormones, leading to reduced hunger and cravings.
How Protein at Breakfast Helps You Lose Weight and Belly Fat
High-protein breakfasts can reduce appetite and cravings. They may also help you lose belly fat.
Dietary protein is inversely related to belly fat, meaning the more high-quality protein you eat, the less belly fat you have (26, 27).
One study of obese, Chinese teens showed that replacing a grain-based breakfast with an egg-based meal led to significantly more weight loss over 3 months.
The higher-protein breakfast group lost 3.9 percent of their body weight (about 2.4 kg or 5.3 lbs), while the lower-protein group lost only 0.2 percent (0.1 kg or 0.2 lbs) (23).
In another study, people on a weight loss program received either an egg breakfast or a bagel breakfast with the same amount of calories.
After 8 weeks, those eating the egg breakfast had a 61 percent higher reduction in BMI, 65 percent more weight loss and a 34 percent greater reduction in waist measurements (25).
Bottom Line: Eating protein for breakfast can lead to significant weight loss, especially if you have a lot of weight to lose.
Protein May Slightly Boost Your Metabolism
Speeding up your metabolism can help you lose weight, as it makes you burn more calories.
Your body uses much more calories to metabolize protein (20-30 percent) than carbs (5-10 percent) or fat (0-3 percent) (4).
This means you burn more calories by eating protein than by eating carbs or fat. In fact, a high protein intake has been shown to result in an extra 80 to 100 calories burned each day (8, 28, 29).
A high protein diet can also help prevent muscle loss during calorie restriction and partly prevent the reduction in metabolism that often comes with weight loss, often referred to as “starvation mode" (11, 30, 31, 32, 33).
Bottom Line: A high protein intake has been shown to boost metabolism by up to 100 calories per day. It can also help you maintain muscle mass and a high metabolism when you restrict calories.
Which High-Protein Foods Should You Eat For Breakfast?
In short, eggs.
Eggs are incredibly nutritious and high in protein. Replacing a grain-based breakfast with eggs has been shown to help you eat fewer calories for the next 36 hours and lose more weight and body fat (4, 11, 15).
However, fish, seafood, meat, poultry and dairy products are also great sources of protein to include for breakfast.
For a complete list of high-protein foods, read this article.
Here are a few examples of high-protein breakfasts that can help you lose weight:
- Scrambled eggs: with veggies, fried in coconut oil or olive oil.
- An omelette: with cottage cheese and spinach (my personal favorite).
- Stir-fried tofu: with kale and dairy-free cheese.
- Greek yogurt: with wheat germ, seeds and berries.
- A shake: one scoop of whey protein, a banana, frozen berries and almond milk.
Protein pancakes are also a very popular breakfast food at the moment.
Bottom Line: Eggs make a great, high-protein breakfast. However, other high-protein breakfast foods are also good choices.
If You Eat Breakfast, Make it High in Protein
If you do choose to eat breakfast, eat one that is rich in protein.
The protein content of the breakfast meals in the studies above ranged from 18 to 41 percent of calories, with at least 20 total grams of protein.
This article was reposted from our media associate Authority Nutrition.
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Here are three new films to watch this Earth Week that will transport you from pole to pole and introduce you to the scientists and activists working to save our shared home.
1. The Year Earth Changed
Where to Watch: Apple TV+
When to Watch: From April 16
The coronavirus pandemic has brought home the stakes of humanity's impact on the environment. But the lockdowns also proved how quickly nature can recover when humans give it the space. Birds sang in empty cities, whales surfaced in Glacier Bay and capybara roamed the South American suburbs.
The Year Earth Changed captures this unique year with footage from more than 30 lockdowned cities between May 2020 to January 2021. Narrated by renowned wildlife broadcaster David Attenborough, the film explores what positive lessons we can take from the experience of a quieter, less trafficked world.
"What the film shows is that the natural world can bounce back remarkably quickly when we take a step back and reduce our impact as we did during lockdown," executive producer Alice Keens-Soper of BBC Studios Natural History Unit told EcoWatch. "If we are willing to make even small changes to our habits, the natural world can flourish. We need to learn how to co-exist with nature and understand that we are not separate from it- for example if we closed some of our beaches at for a few weeks during the turtle breeding we see that it can make a huge difference to their success. There are many ways that we can adapt our behavior to allow the natural world to thrive as it did in lockdown."
2. After Antarctica
Where to Watch: San Francisco International Film Festival
When to Watch: 12 a.m. PST April 9 to 11:59 p.m. April 18
In 1989, Will Steger led an international team of six scientists and explorers to be the first humans to cross Antarctica by dogsled. Steger and his team weren't just in it for the adventure. They also wanted to draw attention to the ways in which the climate crisis was already transforming the icy continent and to rally support for the renewal of the Antarctic Treaty, which would keep the continent safe from extractive industries.
In After Antarctica, award-winning filmmaker Tasha Van Zandt follows Steger 30 years later as he travels the Arctic this time, reflecting on his original journey and once again bringing awareness to changes in a polar landscape. The film intersperses this contemporary journey with footage from the original expedition, some of which has never been seen before.
"Will's life journey as an explorer and climate activist has led him not only to see more of the polar world than anyone else alive today, but to being an eyewitness to the changes occurring across both poles," Van Zandt told EcoWatch. "But now, these changes are happening in all of our own backyards and we have all become eyewitnesses. Through my journey with Will, I have learned that although we cannot always control change, we can change our response. I feel strongly that this is a message that resonates when we look at the current state of the world, as we each have power and control over how we choose to respond to hardships, and we all have the power to unite with others through collective action around a common goal."
After Antarctica is available to stream once you purchase a ticket to the San Francisco International Film Festival. If you miss it this weekend, it will screen again at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival from May 13 to May 23.
Tasha Van Zandt
3. The Race to Save the World
Where to Watch: Virtual Cinema
When to Watch: From Earth Day, April 22
While many films about the climate crisis seek to raise awareness about the extent of the problem, The Race to Save the World focuses on the people who are trying to stop it. The film tells the story of climate activists ranging from 15-year-old Aji to 72-year-old Miriam who are working to create a sustainable future. It follows them from the streets to the courtroom to their homes, and explores the impact of their advocacy on their personal lives and relationships.
Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker Joe Gantz told EcoWatch that he wanted to make a film about climate change, but did not want to depress viewers with overwhelming statistics. Instead, he chose to inspire them by sharing the stories of people trying to make a difference.
"Unless millions of people take to the streets and make their voices heard for a livable future, the politicians are not going to get on board to help make the changes needed for a sustainable future," Gantz told Ecowatch. "I think that The Race To Save The World will energize and inspire people to take action so that future generations, as well as the plants, animals and ecosystems, can survive and thrive on this planet."
Check back with EcoWatch on the morning of Earth Day for a special preview of this inspiring film!