 Hey everybody Dr. O here. So before we get started I just want to apologize for the delay in getting this video out You know my goal was to make some extra videos this summer when I'm not as busy at work But my son's been having some headache issues. We think it's probably related to a Concussion so he's been my top priority right now, and I'm sure you do understand that So I would love any prayers or well wishes that you're willing to send But let's go ahead and dive in so we're in our finding your fat loss sweet spot series Which is all about losing fat as quickly as possible without sacrificing lean mass So we're on to number four which is eating enough protein So this video is going to explain why I'm borderline annoying about how much I talk about the importance of protein And how the average person is just not getting enough Protein is a powerful tool when you are losing fat, right? It has the highest satiety value of any food This means that it helps to control hunger at least up to a point up to a limit Protein also has the highest thermic effect of food So you actually burn more calories when you eat protein than you do from eating carbohydrates or fat But the reason we care about protein today is that it helps to preserve or even build lean mass while losing fat So long story short protein helps you get into your fat loss sweet spot, which is what we're here for Okay before we dive into what I really want to focus on today Please reach out to me if you want to learn more about protein after seeing these next two videos, right? I know it's a complicated topic I've been considering making a mini course just that covers all things protein Once I'm done with this fat loss sweet spot series and a few more videos that I have coming out Let me know if that sounds like a good idea to you But either way I will definitely be making some videos in the future about protein because I want to talk about Number one the importance of protein quality number two Making sure that you're reaching what's called the leucine threshold for maximal muscle protein synthesis at each meal and number three I want to talk about something called the protein leverage Hypothesis that might actually explain the entire obesity epidemic. So let me know if those things sound interesting to you So protein is a top priority. Why your body needs essential amino acids from protein to survive, right? There's no such thing as an essential carbohydrate We need about three grams a day of essential fatty acids, which is just a fraction of what we eat even on a low-fat diet But we have to consume the essential amino acids that are found in protein all the time because because we need them They're essential we our body can't make them and the only place our body actually can store These protein building blocks is in our muscles our bones and our organs we can store carbs as glycogen We can store fat as fat It is much but it's much better for your body to use protein from your meals than protein from your muscles and your bones and your Organs as fuel or to survive This is why following a high protein diet helps preserve muscle mass and increase fat loss on a diet study after study shows The same thing I'll show you several of them today in addition low protein diets Actually appear to increase the risk of regaining the weight once you've lost it So low protein diets probably increase your risk of gaining the weight in the first place But they definitely increase your risk of regaining weight once you've lost it in the next video. We'll even talk about that We'll talk about People that have have lost weight and kept it off and how one of their strategies is is reaching a certain protein threshold Let's look at the science behind making protein a priority in this video though And then I'll help you determine how to set your protein targets in the next one All right, so what does the science have to say the effects of dietary protein intake on body composition changes? After weight loss in older adults a systematic review and meta-analysis, which remember we consider the gold standard of any research So this review Compared protein intakes below 25% versus protein intakes of 25% or more of energy intake of calories in adults older than 50 years They looked at 20 randomized controlled trials that met their inclusion criteria Their conclusion was that older adults retained more lean mass and lost more fat mass during weight loss When consuming higher protein diets, that's why we're here. That's what the fat loss sweet spot is all about They retained lean mass. They lost more fat. That means they found their fat loss sweet spot or at least were closer to it So consuming 25% or more of your calories per day from protein appears to be important, especially in older adults Next study the effects of protein intake and gender on body composition changes a randomized clinical weight loss trial So this was a 12 month randomized clinical trial with four months of weight loss and then an eight month weight maintenance phase The subjects were all overweight middle-aged adults They were put on a 500 calorie per day deficit Which means that they should have been losing about one pound per week the high protein group consumed 1.6 grams per kilogram per day, which will be within the range that I typically recommend The low protein group was consuming 0.8 grams per kilogram per day Which would be the RDA or recommended dietary allowance for a sedentary adult The high protein group lost 53% more body fat than a normal protein group eating the same number of calories So they both groups at the same number of calories the high protein group lost 53% more body fat I should just drop the mic and be done, right? We need protein when we're trying to lose fat Next study though higher compared with lower dietary protein during an energy deficit Combined with intense exercise promotes greater lean mass gain and fat mass loss a randomized trial So a four-week trial they put these people on a 40% calorie deficit At the same time, they were resisting training. They were lifting weights combined with HIIT high intensity interval training six days per week So very intense exercise while in a 40% calorie deficit. The high protein group increased their lean body mass by 2.65 pounds and lost 10.58 pounds of fat in a four-week trial The low protein group increased their lean mass But only by 0.22 pounds and then they only lost 7.7 pounds of fat So that means that during a four-week trial the high protein group added 2.43 more pounds of lean mass and Lost 2.88 more pounds of fat all great news so far Next one increased protein intake reduces lean body mass loss during weight loss in athletes So 20 young healthy resistance trained athletes Which you often see in studies because they're college students that are looking for credit or extra credit They reduced their calories by 40% for two weeks So pretty pretty steep calorie reduction, but they kept their normal training schedule the high protein group 835% of their calories as protein that ended up being 2.3 grams per kilogram per day This would be on the higher end of what I typically would recommend. This group lost 0.66 pounds of lean mass during this two weeks Because they were being too aggressive. We've talked about that before but only 20% of their weight loss was lean mass The low protein group ate 15% of their calories as protein That was one gram per kilogram per day, which is way less than I recommend And it's actually sadly slightly more than the average American eats per day They lost 3.5 pounds of lean mass during this two-week trial And 53% of their weight loss was lean mass and how many times have I told you you're better off losing nothing than losing lean mass Losing more than half the weight that you lose being lean mass is really a terrible thing All right next study metabolic adaptation to caloric restriction and subsequent refeeding the minnesota starvation experiment revisited We've actually covered this study in detail earlier 32 non-obese subjects. They averaged 171 pounds they ate 50 percent of their energy needs for three weeks So they put them on a diet they cut their calories in half which ended up being an average of 1353 calories per day, but this is why I wanted to come back to the study They only ate 49 grams of protein per day, which some of you might that might be what you eat Some of my students I know I have my students do diet tracking exercises and and some of them do eat that much that little protein So that would only be 0.63 grams per kilogram per day So even below the rda, but they lost over seven pounds of lean mass in three weeks 58 of their weight loss was lean mass. So please don't eat 49 grams a day of protein while you're on a diet Another one high protein intake sustains weight maintenance after body weight loss in humans So we talked about how eating more protein will help you lose fat and preserve lean mass But what about maintaining your weight loss? So these people ate they ate a 500 calorie diet They weren't in a 500 calorie deficit They were only eating 500 calories per day for four weeks followed by a three month weight maintenance assessment So both groups ate the same number of calories during this maintenance phase So they they were all on a on a real strict diet for four weeks for the next three three months both groups ate The same number of calories But the higher protein group was given 48.2 grams per day of additional protein So they were eating more protein than they must have been eating less carbs and less fat The higher protein group regained half as much weight as the lower protein group So that's already awesome, right over the three months after they went on their diet They only regained half as much weight But here's the cool thing all the weight they regained regained was lean mass They didn't gain any fat mass back. They regained weight, but it was all lean mass, which we want That's why you care more about measurements than the scale You want your lean mass to go up for multiple reasons that I covered in the first video So all the weight that the high protein group regained was lean mass The group that was eating 48.2 less grams per day of protein They gained some lean mass back, but much of what they gained back was fat So they gained twice as much weight back and some of it the majority of it was actually fat But the high protein group also had increased satiety. Remember that feeling of fullness? Even though both groups ate the same number of calories So they were able to maintain their weight better because even though they were eating the same number of calories They were more satiated. They felt more full because of the satiety effect of protein Our one last one just to put a bow on everything here. This is a review I'll cover it in more detail in other places in the future Clinical evidence and mechanisms of high protein diet induced weight loss So these this was a review of fairly long clinical trials right of six to 12 months Which you're just you're not going to see nutrition studies that are much longer in that most of them are only a matter of weeks But so they looked at clinical trials that were six to 12 months long And they reported that a high protein diet provides weight loss effects and can prevent weight regain after weight loss Which is exactly what we're looking for losing weight keeping it off forever Then let me quote this the high protein diet has not been reported to have adverse effects on health In terms of bone density or renal function in healthy adults The reason I wanted to quote that Is because those are the two biggest concerns people have about eating more protein is that protein is somehow bad for your bones Even though bones are just mineralized proteins Um, and then that protein is bad for your kidneys So we'll cover this more in the next video But this is a quote from this review that looked at all these clinical trials And then another quote in conclusion the high protein diet is an effective and safe tool for weight reduction That can prevent obesity and obesity related diseases. So all reasons to make sure you're getting enough protein So eating enough protein is going to help us find our fat loss sweet spot So I hope I've made the case that protein intake is a major way to protect your lean mass while losing fat So now in the next video I will help you figure out how to set your protein target To put you right in the middle of that fat loss sweet spot. I hope this video helped you have a wonderful day. Be blessed