A Higher Protein Diet And Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers is a nutrition company that has practically become synonymous with the diet it created. The diet is based around a points system that evaluates the overall content of individual foods. You are allowed a certain number of points for the purpose of reaching your weight-loss goals. Once your target weight is eventually reached, you enter a maintenance period to sustain your current weight.

Protein

Protein is a nutrient integral to the functions of the human body. It supports the immune system, sustains muscle contractions and facilitates chemical reactions. Protein helps with weight loss in a few important ways. First, it satisfies hunger. Second, it requires calories to metabolize. Third, it is instrumental to the construction of new muscle tissue, which burns calories and makes strenuous physical activity possible.

Significance

Weight Watchers does not put a particular emphasis on protein-rich foods. For example, the guidelines to its recent Momentum plan only include one or two servings of lean protein --- although some of the grains and dairy also contain a lot of protein. As long as you consume the daily recommended protein intake --- about .8 g/kg of body weight for the average person --- then a Weight Watchers diet should suffice.

Research

Weight Watchers, however, does recognize the growing evidence that protein can satisfy hunger. It cites a 2005 study conducted jointly by the University of Washington and the University of Oregon, in which researchers demonstrated that people eating meals with a varying amounts of protein and fat fared better with weight loss when their meals contained more protein. These higher protein meals created a desire to eat fewer calories, which led to a greater loss of body fat.

Effects

According to a 2006 study published in the journal "Cell Metabolism" by clinician scientist Rachel Batterham and fellow researchers from the University College London, protein activates a hormone that is known to stave off hunger. This led to a decrease in the consumption of overall calories. However, the mechanism responsible remained elusive to the researchers.

Recommendations

If you want to consume more protein, then you should adjust your Weight Watchers diet and cut some of the fat to make room. Protein intake, even on a high-protein diet, should equal 30 percent or less of total calories. In order to get more protein in your diet, you should eat low fat, high protein foods such as lean cuts of meat --- look for words like loin, round or leg on the packaging --- skinless poultry, fish, egg whites, low or nonfat dairy products, beans and legumes.