If one of your resolutions for 2008 is to lose excess fat and keep it off, you’re in good company. Stopping smoking, losing weight, becoming more fit, and building more time for family and friends are consistently among the top four New Year resolutions made by Canadians.
Sadly, when it comes to losing pounds and maintaining weight loss, fewer than 10 percent can say they have succeeded at the end of the year.
The problem is not motivation. Most people who desire a change in their level of body fat, desire it just as much during the summer and fall as they did at the beginning of the year. The issue appears to lie with understanding or believing the simple equation that when calorie intake exceeds energy output, it is stored as fat.
So are there any ways to influence the way the body processes calories? Is there such a thing as a miracle ingredient that helps the body burn more of what we eat?
The answer is, possibly. Green tea and an extract from the rind of Garcinia cambogia (a tropical citrus fruit), can help speed the metabolism, and studies have shown weight loss in the abdominal area for some users. There is also a promising area that researchers are working on: the incorporation of whey protein into the diet.
What Is Whey?
Whey is a milk-based product that consists of protein, lactose (milk sugar), fat and minerals. Protein is the main ingredient, itself consisting of smaller protein “subfractions” such as glycomacropeptide (GMP). Each of these subfractions has unique biological properties and those possessed by GMP are of the greatest significance to people wanting to control weight/body fat.
Protien, Whey and Weight Control
Protein from any source requires more energy to digest than other foods. This helps to use up more calories from your daily intake and is part of the reason people on higher protein diets have more success with sustained weight loss.
Protein also helps to slow down the absorption of glucose into the bloodstream. This in turn reduces hunger by minimizing insulin levels and making it easier for the body to burn fat.
The feelings of hunger and satiety (being satisfied by food) result from a complex interplay of body chemicals triggered by a number of physical or emotional conditions. One of these chemicals—the appetite-suppressing hormone cholecystokinin (CCK)—is directly affected by the whey protein subfraction, GMP. GMP helps promote the release of CCK, helping you feel fuller for a longer period of time.
Yet another way in which protein helps you manage body fat is by preserving lean muscle tissue when you lose fat by increasing your activity level. When your body doesn’t get enough protein and the important essential amino acids it requires on a daily basis it will “steal” them from existing muscle tissue. Since muscle tissue burns more calories at rest and while active than fat tissue, preserving muscle mass will help manage weight over the long term.
Whey and Serotonin
New research into the nature and effects of the “feel good” brain chemical, serotonin, suggests whey may help stress by increasing serotonin levels. Serotonin levels actively affect mood, increasing or decreasing anxiety. When anxiety is elevated due to low serotonin levels, hunger and the desire to eat is also increased.i
Since stress has been implicated in a number of health conditions, as well as the desire to eat, adding a little whey protein to your daily food intake may well help your personal fitness planon a number of levels.
i. Markus CR, Olivier B, Panhuysen GE, Van Der Gugten J, Alles MS, Tuiten A, Westenberg HG, Fekkes D, Koppeschaar HF, de Haan EE. The bovine protein alphalactalbumin increases the plasma ratio of tryptophan to the other large neutral amino acids, and in vulnerable subjects raises brain serotonin activity, reduces cortisol concentration, and improves mood under stress. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000 Jun;71(6):1536-44.