"You may gain less weight by overeating on a low-protein die

CassieAtEatLoveFit

Interesting article...
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/fitness-food/diet-nutrition/story/2012-01-03/Extra-calories-low-protein-are-culprits-in-weight-gain/52365608/1

Extra calories, low protein are culprits in weight gain
By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY Updated 21h 56m ago

The bathroom scales can fool you, a new study shows.



The researchers looked at how the level of protein in the diets affected body composition, weight gain and energy expenditure.
The researchers looked at how the level of protein in the diets affected body composition, weight gain and energy expenditure.
If you eat too many calories, you will gain about the same amount of body fat no matter how many of those calories are protein.
But you may gain less weight on the scales by overeating on a low-protein diet than on a normal-protein or high-protein diet.
The reason: You lose lean body mass (muscle and organ tissue) on a low-protein diet and you gain lean body mass on a normal or high-protein diet, the research shows.
"You may gain less weight by overeating on a low-protein diet, but it's because you lose lean body mass, not because you store less fat," says George Bray, lead author of the study and an obesity researcher at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge.
He and colleagues had 25 healthy adults, ages 18 to 35, live in an inpatient setting for three months. Based on their caloric needs, participants were overfed by 950 calories a day for eight weeks.
They were given those extra calories as either a low-protein diet (5% of calories from protein, about 1.6 ounces of protein a day); normal-protein diet (15% of calories from protein, 5 ounces a day) or a high-protein diet (26% of calories, 8 ounces a day).
The carbohydrates stayed the same at 41% of calories. The percentage of fat varied depending on the protein. Protein-rich foods include lean meat, fish, chicken, low-fat milk, eggs and beans, Bray says. Participants were monitored and ate everything they were served.
Among the findings after eight weeks, reported in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association: Participants in all three groups gained about the same amount of body fat, 7.7 pounds. This is measured with a special instrument.
But what showed up on the bathroom scales was different. Those on the low-protein diet gained about 7 pounds compared with 13 pounds for those on a normal-protein diet and 14 pounds for those on a high-protein diet.
The reason: Lean body mass decreased by 1½ pounds in the low-protein diet group, compared with a gain of about 6 pounds of lean body mass in the normal-protein diet group and 7 pounds in the high-protein diet group.
Protein contributed to the changes in lean body mass, and "the bathroom scale doesn't tell you what the composition of your body is," Bray says.
So what should a person do? "My take-away message from this study is that we need to eat enough good lean protein to help maintain our lean mass," says Barbara Rolls, a nutrition professor at the Pennsylvania State University.
She advises people to keep their protein intake at the recommended level, whether they are trying to lose weight or keep weight off.
The Institute of Medicine recommends a diet containing a range of 10% to 35% of calories from protein.
The government's choosemyplate.gov recommends 5.5 ounces of protein foods a day for those on a 2,000 calorie diet, says Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian in Chicago and nutrition blogger at yourlife.usatoday.com.