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It's hard to lose weight. It's hard to get started on a diet and it's hard to stick to it. As soon as you start your diet, you see and smell delicious food everywhere. You suddenly crave food you never wanted to eat. You're hungry all the time; you become a master at rationalizing why you must/can/should eat such and such.
What we need is a secret weapon. And we might just have one. What do you think? Can a combination of fiber and protein do the trick? Let's see.
As themost satiating macronutrient, protein helps maintain weight by making you feel fuller for longer protein takes longer to digest, which also increases calorie burning. Research shows that eating adequate protein canhelp keep weight stable.
Protein also helps with weight loss through different mechanisms.
When you eat high-protein food like meat, fish, or eggs, the levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin drop. At the same time, the appetite-reducing hormones GLP-1, peptide YY, and cholecystokinin spike. So, proteinreduces hunger and increases satiety.
This helps to limit calorie intake and reduces the risk of gaining weight.
When losing weight, you don't only lose fat, you also lose muscle. However, if your diet includes a good amount of protein, you can preserve lean muscle, which is good because muscle burns more calories than fat.
Protein has a high thermic effect, meaning your body uses more calories to digest, absorb, and process it. About20–30% of protein calories are burned during digestion, compared to 5–10% for carbs and 0–3% for fat.
People who follow a high-protein diet, feel less hungry during the day and don't crave high-sugar, high-fat foods. Higher protein intake is also associated withfewer late-night cravings. Also, the preoccupation with thoughts about food diminishes.
Fiber also supports weight loss through various mechanisms.
High-fiber foods are filling, so you feel satisfied for longer, not needing to eat again soon. If you eat less frequently, your calorie intake drops, which can help youlose weight, or at least, maintain a healthy weight.
High-fiber foods like vegetables, legumes, and whole grains tend to be lower in calories compared to other foods of the same volume. For someone trying to lose weight, this is good news because it means you can eat a lot of food but not increase your calorie intake.
Ameta-analysis of several studies concluded that diets lower in energy density may help to manage body weight.
The body doesn't digest fiber, so it doesn’t affect blood sugar levels. It slows the absorption of sugar, leading to more stable blood sugar and insulin levels, which canreduce fat storage and prevent hunger spikes.
Good news for anyone trying to lose weight: high fiber intake helps you lose weight and keep it off. Many studies have shown eating fiber helps overweight or obese peoplestick to a calorie-restricted diet and lose weight in the long term.
Since both protein and fiber help maintain a healthy weight and assist with weight loss efforts, it makes sense to combine the two when trying to lose weight.
Here is how combining fiber and protein supports weight loss:
Both fiber and protein contribute to feeling full and satisfied, so you don't constantly feel the need to eat more. If you combine the two, this effect will be even more effective.
Both fiber and protein slow down the digestion of carbohydrates, which can moderate the rise in blood sugar levels. Together, they reduce energy crashes and help prevent sugar cravings, especially in the late afternoon or in the middle of the night.
Protein helps preserve muscle while dieting and muscle burns more calories. Fiber improves digestion and soluble fiber absorbs fats so they are not absorbed into the body. Fiber also increases your metabolic rate, which may help you to burn more calories.
Fiber feeds healthy gut bacteria, and a diverse gut microbiome is linked tostable weight maintenance. Protein, especially from plant-based sources, including legumes and nuts, can complement this effect by contributing to a diverse gut biome.
Protein is a complex nutrient that takes long to digest. When combined with carbohydrates, protein also slows down sugar metabolism. In other words, sugar enters the bloodstream slowly. Fiber enhances this effect because it also slows down digestion.
Together, fiber and protein prevent spikes in blood sugar as sugar enters the bloodstream at a more gradual rate.
When you include fiber and protein in your meals, you feel more satisfied after a meal, making it easier to stick indefinitely to a healthy eating plan.
The benefit? The end of diets and the end of struggling with weight!
At first glance, you may be flustered at the thought of having to include fiber and protein in your meals. It is not that difficult, especially if you consider that many whole foods already contain both protein and fiber.
The first one that comes to mind is lentils. Lentils are high in fiber and protein, as are other legumes. Nuts also share this quality.
|
Foods containing fiber and protein |
High Protein Foods |
High Fiber Fruits & Vegetables |
|
Lentils and other legumes like chickpeas, black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, etc. |
Meat |
Apples |
|
Tree nuts: almonds, cashews, walnuts, etc. |
Fish |
Bananas |
|
Peanuts (classified as a legume) |
Poultry |
Pears |
|
Edamame (immature soybeans) |
Seafood |
Berries |
|
Quinoa |
Milk, yogurt, cheese |
Avocado |
|
Seeds (hemp, chia, sunflower, etc.) |
Eggs |
Beets |
|
Peas |
Tofu |
Brussel sprouts |
|
Whole grains: whole wheat, unpolished rice, oats, etc. |
Plant-based milk |
Artichokes |
|
Sweet potatoes |
||
|
Carrots |
||
|
Dates |
Beans on whole wheat toast.
Spinach & lentil curry on brown rice.
Stir-fried brown rice and vegetables sprinkled with cashew nuts and/or seeds.
Nasi goreng – stir-fried brown rice with vegetables and eggs.
Fresh garden salad mixed with cooked quinoa, served with hummus.
Roasted root vegetables mixed with quinoa and cooked chickpeas.
Whole wheat veggie & hummus wrap.
Bulgur & vegetable salad sprinkled with feta and roasted seeds.
Tomato, spinach & cheese quiche served with whole wheat tortilla.
It takes time to adjust to a new way of eating. If you are not used to high-fiber foods like beans and vegetables, it might be daunting to start including them in your meals.
If you are serious about changing to a diet that incorporates more high-fiber and high-protein foods, take it slowly. Don't do too much at once and while your body is adjusting to the odd plate of lentil stew, try aquality fiber and protein supplement to get you started.
Taking a fiber and protein supplement has been proven tosupport weight loss.
It is no secret that it's hard to start a new way of eating and stick to it. I am not using the word 'diet' on purpose, because of all the negative connotations attached to dieting. Besides, opting for more protein and fiber in your diet adds to your meals, which is not usually the case with weight loss diets.
Now that you have the right mindset, here are some more tips to help you on your journey to a new way of eating.
Many years ago I read one article in Reader's Digest that I remember to this day. The gist of it was to make one small change, like using less salt, or no sugar in your coffee, and stick to it for a month. The next month, you stick to this habit and add a new one. You keep doing this every month until you've reached your goal.
You can apply this excellent strategy to your attempt to include more protein and fiber into your diet. For instance, you can start by replacing white rice with brown rice, and traditional pasta with whole wheat pasta. Start with small changes that you can stick to, and gradually move on to your next goal.
Time constraints are a big hurdle to adopting a new way of eating. You can expect to feel overwhelmed by new ingredients and how to prepare them, which is another reason for adding new foods gradually.
It's impossible to quickly throw a healthy, balanced meal together without planning, especially if you're not used to new food types. Make time to plan your meals and cook enough, so you have leftovers to freeze.
Often, one does okay with planning a healthy meal and then falls off the wagon between meals. Here are some ideas for healthy snacks to cope with hunger between meals.
A small bowl of dates and nuts.
½ cup of sunflower seeds with husks – removing the husks takes time, so you eat less.
Small bowl of olives, nuts, and cheese.
Yogurt with berries, nuts, and chia seeds.
A few whole grain crackers with nut butter.
veggies and hummus
Beware when you buy protein bars – some are very high in sugar and contain highly processed ingredients.
Adding high-protein and high-fiber foods doesn't mean that you have to give up all your old favorites. Aim for balance. Besides, if you stick to a high-protein, high-fiber diet, your cravings for sweet and highly processed foods will naturally disappear over time.
Especially sweet foods will lose their attraction.
Remember that fiber absorbs fluids so make sure you drink enough fluids when incorporating more fiber into your diet. Also, incorporate high-fiber foods slowly if you are not used to them because your digestive system needs time to adjust to increased fiber intake.
While fiber and protein are key to weight loss, more isn’t necessarily better. Suddenly eating more fiber can cause digestive issues like bloating and gas, and too much protein, especially animal protein, will eventually strain your kidneys.
If you include more fiber and protein in your diet and you take supplements containing the two items, you might be overdoing it.
Both fiber and protein help with weight loss. Increasing your intake will boost your health and help you lose weight over time. The secret is not to regard eating more protein and fiber as a new diet but as a new way of life. Learn some recipes for delicious new dishes and take it slowly. Enjoy the adventure!