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How Important Is Protein For Weight Loss? | Nutritionist Explains... | Myprotein
Jan 30, 2025
An expert nutritionist breaks down the importance of protein for weight loss.
Jamie Wright an accredited nutritionist explains why protein is arguably the most important nutrient for weight loss. When we eat protein, our body will digest that food and break down the protein nutrients into these amino acids.
One of the most beneficial effects of a higher protein diet for helping us with weight loss is that it actually makes us feel fuller for longer. When we eat protein, it triggers a cascade of fullness hormones. Hormones are essentially chemical messengers which travel around our body and instruct processes to start, stop change.
Fun fact: Take a moment and look down at your hands. That's protein, the fingernails that's protein too.
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Chapters:
00:00 - how important is protein
01:55 - how does it help weight loss?
03:33 - weight management
05:16 - preserving muscle mass
Follow Jamie on IG: jamiesdietguide
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0:00
just how important is protein for weight
0:03
loss
0:06
hi I'm Jimmy Wright an accredited
0:08
nutritionist and I specialize in helping
0:10
people across the world achieve their
0:12
goals without those silly fat diets
0:13
today I'm going to talk to you about
0:16
protein now what's the first thing that
0:18
comes to your mind when I say the word
0:20
protein the word protein has become
0:22
synonymous with muscle size strength and
0:25
bodybuilding but protein isn't just for
0:27
Mass monsters in fact protein is
0:29
arguably the most important nutrient for
0:31
weight loss what is protein before we
0:35
dive head first into the role of protein
0:36
and diet and weight loss it's crucial
0:38
that we first understand what protein
0:40
actually is take a moment and look down
0:43
at your hands that's protein now the
0:45
fingernails that's protein too and what
0:47
about the hair on the back of your hand
0:48
guess what that's protein protein is the
0:51
primary and predominant structural
0:52
component of our body it's the bulk of
0:54
the building materials which make up our
0:56
skin hair muscle and organs you see
0:58
we're essentially like an organic Lego
1:00
set created from all manner of much
1:02
smaller Lego sets a protein itself is
1:05
made up of individual bricks called
1:07
amino acids when we eat protein our body
1:10
will digest that food and break down the
1:12
protein nutrients into these amino acids
1:14
these are then transported around the
1:16
body and used to create new structures
1:19
and in some cases are even converted to
1:22
produce energy this is where the
1:24
association between protein and building
1:27
muscle originates from and rightly so we
1:30
need protein to create new muscle
1:32
proteins when we exercise
1:34
particularly when we perform resistance
1:36
exercise like weight training we damage
1:38
our muscle and cause micro Tears while
1:40
this sounds like a bad thing it's an
1:42
actual necessity for growth and
1:44
adaptation our body uses the protein we
1:47
ingest through food to repair and
1:49
develop the damaged muscle which over
1:51
time can result in some significant
1:54
gains in muscle mass but protein is
1:56
incredibly versatile not just in how
1:58
it's used but how it impacts our body
2:00
and mind when we eat a diet that's
2:01
richer in it you see it's not just
2:03
muscle that can help build protein can
2:05
also play an incredibly important role
2:07
in helping us to not just maintain our
2:09
weight but to lose it as well weight
2:11
loss itself is at its core a numbers
2:14
game if the energy we burn exceeds the
2:16
energy we consume through food then we
2:18
will lose weight countless Studies have
2:20
found higher protein diets and methods
2:22
to be an extremely successful means of
2:24
not just losing weight but actually
2:26
helping people to sustain that weight
2:28
loss no mean feed let me tell you that
2:30
if you're wondering how much protein
2:32
these studies are recommending it's
2:33
around the 1 1.4 grams of protein per
2:36
kilogram of body weight Mark I'd also
2:38
advised that you divide that up equally
2:40
between three to four minutes aiming for
2:42
around 20 to 30 grams per minute when
2:44
possible now let's have a look at how
2:46
protein actually helps with weight loss
2:48
here are the scientifically backed
2:50
mechanisms that make protein a must-have
2:52
for weight loss one of the most
2:54
beneficial effects of a higher protein
2:56
diet for helping us with weight loss is
2:58
that it actually makes us feel Fuller
3:00
for longer when we eat protein it
3:02
triggers a Cascade of filmless hormones
3:04
hormones are essentially chemical
3:06
messages which travel around our body
3:08
and instruct processes to start stop
3:10
change
3:12
these fullness hormones help with our
3:14
satiety essentially this is the feeling
3:16
we get when we feel fed or gratified if
3:19
you feel more satiated there will be
3:21
less of an Impulse to eat the less of an
3:23
Impulse to eat the less energy we will
3:26
typically consume is simple right but
3:27
there's another important point to
3:29
mention when it comes to protein and
3:30
feeling satiated or at least not feeling
3:33
hungry foods rich in protein and take
3:34
time to digest protein structures are
3:37
complex and require our digestive system
3:39
to put in work to free up all the
3:41
nutrients for our body to absorb this
3:43
may sound like a bad thing but it's
3:44
actually really good for weight loss and
3:46
weight management having a slower but
3:48
steadier stream of nutrients
3:50
particularly carbohydrates at least in
3:52
the form of sugars and amino acids
3:54
flowing into our bloodstream helps to
3:56
better regulate our energy levels when
3:59
our energy levels dip we often reach for
4:01
food as a quick pick me up if you have
4:03
that better sustained level of energy
4:04
you're far less likely to snack on Foods
4:07
or overeat throughout the day again less
4:09
food in means less energy in which
4:12
should then lead to weight loss numbers
4:14
game one of the other really interesting
4:15
at least if you're a bit of a nerd like
4:17
me ways in which protein supports weight
4:19
loss and weight loss management is its
4:21
respective thermic effect thermogenesis
4:23
is essentially the amount of energy we
4:25
expand metabolizing and making use of
4:27
the foods that we eat because of its
4:29
complexity protein is the most
4:31
thermogenic of the three major
4:32
micronutrients protein provides roughly
4:34
four calories of energy per gram
4:36
ingested but and this is where you'll be
4:38
really interested if you're an art it
4:40
actually costs around one calorie per
4:42
gram of protein to break it down and to
4:44
use it that's a 25 calorie discount you
4:46
get in there folks which isn't too bad
4:47
at all another point to make here which
4:49
is in the same sort of ballpark is just
4:51
high and protein isn't really used as an
4:54
energy source you see our body really
4:56
doesn't like using protein for energy
4:57
because it has to convert it to be able
4:59
to use it for energy and it especially
5:01
hits the thought of storing protein as
5:03
body fat to store it as body fat it
5:05
actually has to convert it twice over to
5:07
do this and your body basically just
5:09
says nah I'm not doing that and instead
5:11
tends to increase your energy
5:12
expenditure through heat production or
5:14
moving around a little bit more we
5:16
alluded to protein and its role in
5:18
muscle mass repair and development
5:19
earlier but one of the other wonderful
5:21
benefits of protein is that can also
5:22
help preserve muscle mass no you may be
5:25
thinking that doesn't sound all that
5:27
great but let me tell you this is
5:29
awesome you see muscle is really
5:32
energetically demanding tissue it's
5:33
based basically the equivalent of
5:35
constantly having a tumble dryer running
5:37
at all times it burns through energy
5:39
like nobody's business so if what we
5:41
need to achieve weight loss and keep it
5:43
off is expanding more energy and keeping
5:45
the muscle that we do have or adding to
5:48
it will be a major help get your protein
5:50
in people and keep those muscles around
5:52
it's really important that you do when
5:54
you're dieting as this is the prime time
5:56
except if you were to stop training
5:58
altogether which is when muscle loss
6:00
would actually occur also don't be too
6:02
restrictive with your diet and don't
6:04
ditch the resistance training either
6:05
either of these is a Surefire way to
6:07
lose all of your hard-earned gains
6:09
protein
6:11
I love it I could talk about it all day
6:13
it's uh amazing for weight loss honestly
6:17
for all things body composition it's an
6:19
absolute must it's a must to have a
6:21
higher protein diet if this is your goal
6:22
or if performance is your goal or even
6:24
living longer but yes protein for weight
6:26
loss it's awesome it helps you feel
6:29
Fuller for longer burn more calories and
6:31
preserve more muscle don't skip on it
6:33
get yourself at least 1.4 grams per
6:36
kilogram of body weight per day and do
6:38
your best to space that out evenly every
6:40
three to four hours this is the one
6:42
secret no one talks about when it comes
6:44
to weight loss I hope this helped as
6:46
always if you have any more questions
6:48
let me know in the comments below and
6:49
remember to like And subscribe to the my
6:52
protein YouTube channel for more great
6:54
evidence-based nutrition information
6:56
foreign
7:01
[Music]
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