Increase Protein Intake To Curb Appetite For Calories

Cutting down on calories alone might not do. One should rather include enough protein in the diet in order to avoid excessive consumption of fats and carbohydrates.
A multi-disciplinary team of researchers with the University of Sydney has shown that people on a 10 percent protein diet will eat more snacks between meals and consume significantly more calories than those on a 15 percent protein diet.
The results, published in the online journal PLoS ONE, represent the first scientifically supported evidence that dietary protein plays an important role in appetite and total food consumption in humans, and are an important step in addressing the global obesity epidemic.
"Humans have a particularly strong appetite for protein, and when the proportion of protein in the diet is low this appetite can drive excess energy intake," said lead author Dr Alison Gosby, who conducted the study with Professor Steve Simpson from the School of Biological Sciences.
"Our findings have considerable implications for body weight management in the current nutritional environment, where foods rich in fat and carbohydrates are cheap, palatable, and available to an extent unprecedented in our history."
Protein is the driving force for appetite in many animals, according to Professor Steve Simpson, a world leader in nutrition. The 'protein-leverage' hypothesis, first proposed by Steve Simpson and co-author David Raubenheimer, proposes that animals have a fixed protein target, which they will defend at the expense of other nutrients.