Higher-Protein Diets Can Improve Appetite Control, Satiety.

A NEW study demonstrates that higher-
protein meals improve perceived appetite
and satiety in overweight and obese men
during weight loss. According to the
research, published in Obesity, higher-
protein intake led to greater satiety
throughout the day as well as reductions in
both late night and morning appetite
compared to a normal protein diet.
“Research has shown that higher protein
diets, those containing 18 to 35 per cent of
daily calorie intake from dietary protein, are
associated with reductions in hunger and
increased fullness throughout the day and
into the evening hours,” said Dr. Heather
Leidy, study author and professor in the
Department of Nutrition and Exercise
Physiology at the University of Missouri.
“In our study, the two groups ate either 25
or 14 per cent of calories from protein,
while the total calories and per cent of
calories from fat stayed the same between
the higher-protein and normal-protein diet
patterns. “
During the study, Leidy and associates also
conducted an eating frequency sub-study
in which the 27 participants on both
normal- and higher-protein diets consumed
either three meals or six meals per day. The
researchers found that eating frequency
had no effect on appetite and satiety on the
normal-protein diet. However, subjects on
the higher-protein diet who ate three meals
per day experienced greater evening and
late night fullness than those who ate six
meals per day.
This study supports previous research that
demonstrates higher-protein diets,
including egg breakfasts, are associated
with decreased calorie consumption. A
study published last year in Nutrition
Research showed that men ate roughly 112
fewer calories at a buffet lunch and 400
fewer calories in the 24-hour period
following a protein-rich egg breakfast
compared to a bagel breakfast. Another
study demonstrated that overweight
dieters who ate eggs for breakfast lost 65
per cent more weight and felt more
energetic than those who ate a bagel
breakfast of equal calories and volume.