Study suggests that a diet richer in protein can speed the metabolic rate

Posted on 2 February 2009

I make no secret of the fact that I favour protein-rich diets, particularly where weight loss and weight maintenance is concerned. Only last month I highlighted a study which found that a protein-rich diet was better for maintaining weight loss than a diet rich in carbohydrate.

In this particular study, the protein-rich diet had been supplemented with either casein or whey-derived protein. I was therefore interested to read a recently-published study which used two different amounts of casein to see what effect this had on a range of measurements that have some relationship to body weight [1].

In this study, 24 adults (average age 25) were tested with two different diets on separate days. One of these contained more protein and less fat than the other. The protein rich diet had 25 per cent of calories in the form of protein (casein), with 20 and 55 per cent of calories coming from fat and carbohydrate respectively. The lower protein diet had just 10 per cent of calories coming from protein, with fat and carb making up 35 and 55 per cent of calories respectively. For each of the study subjects, total calorie intake was the same on each diet.

For each diet, individuals spent 36 hours living in a

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