Specialty Proteins - the Secret to a Healthy Metabolism

What if I told you there was a quick and easy way to turbo charge your metabolism?

By the way, for those of you who let your membership to the health club expire, this particular method does not involve exercise! Although after you learn and use this secret you may be breaking down the door to your nearest health club.

With the ever-growing trend in obesity, nearly two-thirds of our adult population will try to lose weight by attempting a fad diet. The problem is that for every pound of body fat (the only weight worth losing) lost on unbalanced fad diets there is also a loss of nearly one pound of muscle tissue. At the completion of the diet, most people experience what I call, “The Smaller Fat Person Syndrome,” a condition that refers to a person of lesser weight with a high body fat percentage.

Any way you look at it, muscle cells dictate how many calories you burn over a 24-hour period (referred to as your resting metabolic rate or RMR). If you do not maintain muscle cell activity while losing weight, you will end up degrading your metabolic engines and fat loss will come to a screeching halt—period!

Research presented in the prestigious Journal of Nutrition showed that by adding high quality proteins to the diet, people can maintain muscle mass while reducing body fat during weight loss. The study looked at protein foods that provided optimal levels of an essential amino acid called leucine. Leucine is one of a group of three amino acids called the branched chain amino acids or BCAAs that help regulate muscle growth and activity — essential to maintaining an effective metabolic rate. BCAAs are so important to muscularity and metabolism that one-third of our skeletal muscle is comprised of them.

Since our bodies do not produce essential amino acids such as BCAAs, we rely on a constant supply from outside sources such as beef, dairy products (especially whey), poultry, fish and eggs. Dr. Donald Layman, professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois where the above study was conducted said, “Traditionally, people have built a diet around low-fat foods, instead of high quality protein foods. Study participants following the moderately high protein plan, were twice as effective in maintaining lean muscle mass.”

References:

Layman DK. The role of leucine in weight loss diets and glucose homeostasis. J Nutr. 2003 Jan;133(1):261S-267S.

Shimomura Y., et al. Exercise promotes BCAA catabolism: effects of BCAA supplementation on skeletal muscle during exercise. J Nutr. 2004 Jun;134(6 Suppl):1583S-1587S.

King, B., The Science of Feeling Great, alive magazine, issue #295, May 2007

Markus CR, et al. Evening intake of alpha-lactalbumin increases plasma tryptophan availability and improves morning alertness and brain measures of attention. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 May;81(5):1026-33.

Markus CR, Olivier B, de Haan EH. Whey protein rich in alpha-lactalbumin increases the ratio of plasma tryptophan to the sum of the other large neutral amino acids and improves cognitive performance in stress-vulnerable subjects. Am J Clin Nutr 2002;75:1051–6.

Bouthegourd JC, et al. A preexercise alpha-lactalbumin-enriched whey protein meal preserves lipid oxidation and decreases adiposity in rats. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2002 Sep;283(3):E565-72.



Jeremy Hawkins