Your nutritional plan is especially important when your goal is weight loss. Because you consume fewer calories when you are on a diet, maximizing the nutritional value of each calorie helps ensure you not only lose weight but also maintain optimal health while doing so. Protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats all play a role in keeping you healthy, and attention to your daily protein requirement assists you in reaching your weight-loss goal. However, before you embark on a weight-loss program, seek the advice of a dietitian or your health care provider.
Importance
Protein is an essential macronutrient that supplies your body with the pool of amino acids you need to synthesize proteins. The proteins your body manufactures serve to build and maintain your muscle tissue and organs, support your immune system, manufacture blood cells and produce enzymes and hormones. Your body does not store amino acids the way it does carbohydrates or fats, and you must therefore consume protein in your daily diet or your body will degrade your muscle tissue for its supply of amino acids. When you are on a weight-loss program, your daily protein requirement supplies the amino acids you need to avoid losing your lean muscle mass.
Activity Level
The Recommended Dietary Allowance for protein is 0.8 g per kilogram of body weight each day, corresponding to approximately 15 percent of your daily calories. However, this level of protein intake may be inadequate if your activity levels are higher than normal, whether you are an athlete or you are ramping up your physical activity as part of your weight-loss regimen. In this case, increasing your dietary protein to account for 30 to 35 percent of your daily calories may be appropriate, according to the December 2006 issue of "Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism." Consuming sufficient protein may help you increase the loss of your body fat while retaining your lean muscle mass.
Sources
High-quality dietary proteins include all the amino acids your body needs from food sources. These complete proteins are available from animal sources including milk products, meat, fish and eggs, and also from soy. Most plant sources of proteins lack one or more essential amino acid, however. For foods such as grains and legumes, combining them within a meal or even within a day provides you with the correct balance of amino acids to meet your daily protein requirement for weight loss.
Other Considerations
If you find it difficult to consume your recommended daily protein requirement while on a weight-loss diet you may consider adding a protein supplement to your nutrition plan. However, whole-food sources of protein provide additional nutrients, such as iron and calcium, that supplements may not. As with any nutritional supplement, consult with your health care practitioner before adding it to your weight-loss plan.
References
- Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service; Protein and the Body; Janice Hermann
- Rutgers Fitness: Healthy Weight Loss Guidelines
- "Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism"; Dietary Protein for Athletes: from Requirements to Metabolic Advantage; S. Phillips; December 2006
- MedlinePlus; Protein in Diet; July 2009
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