Is A High-Protein Diet The Key To Maintaining Weight Loss?
You've worked super hard to get to a healthy weight, but unfortunately the work doesn't stop there. According to Healthline, many people who are successful in losing weight are unsuccessful in keeping it off. In fact, about 80% of people will gain at least some of the weight back, making maintaining weight loss one of the biggest challenges of staying healthy.
There are many things you can do and things you can give up to help you maintain your weight. According to WebMD, while exercise and eating right is always important, in order to be truly successful you also need to get your mind right (for example, learn ways to cope with stress other than eating). Having an accountability partner is also helpful, as is avoiding too much television time, eating a lot of fiber, and ensuring you eat a healthy breakfast every single day. But if you have tried all of this and still see the number on the scale creeping up, you may want to consider a high-protein diet.
High-protein diets can help keep the weight off
Fad diets continue to be popular with people hoping to shed some pounds. But, according to Medical News Today, these diets actually lead to weight gain after the dieter forgoes the restrictive dieting plan and goes back to normal eating. New research, per WebMD, is now showing that those who do embark on a restrictive diet, such as calorie counting or intermittent fasting, could avoid that potential weight gain by eating a diet high in protein.
After a period of dieting, there is an increase in a protein in your gut called the Lactobacillus gut bacteria. This bacteria aids in fat absorption and can be the cause of weight gain. After testing on mice, it was proven that high amounts of protein helped avoid weight gain by lowering those bacteria levels. Although this research is just the beginning, especially due to the fact that this study does not take into account exercise levels, cravings, and habits of humans, it is a great first step in learning more about how our bodies absorb fat, specifically after a period of dieting.