Is A High Protein Diet Really The Best Way To Keep the Hunger Pangs at Bay?

It’s all well and good to have a ‘Better Abs’ plan and the best of intentions to “eat right”, but what do you do if you just can’t stop thinking about your next meal?

Before I learnt which foods worked best for me, it wasn’t uncommon to be thinking about my next meal when I was still in the middle of the previous one!

A recent US study into popular diets has found that high protein intake may be one of the best ways to keep hunger in check. The study was centred around discovering which foods best suppress ‘ghrelin’ – one of the hormones that makes you hungry.

The study found that proteins were most effective to do this, with fats having little impact at all, and carbohydrates only making people hungrier.

Why we’re not so sure…

Here at ‘Get Better Abs’ however, we believe that everyone has individual nutritional requirements, so it’s important to take this information with a grain of salt. After all – who was this study conducted on?

Well, it doesn’t say, but let’s assume it was a group of ‘average’ Americans. What is average these days anyway?

Here are some points to take away from this article (with my take added in)…

• Many Westerners lead a ‘carb-happy’ lifestyle.
  Excess carbohydrate intake (especially processed grains and starchy foods like white potato) can lead to excess insulin being released into your body. The job of insulin is to stimulate your appetite and store fat. This may be one reason the researchers found that too many carbs make people hungrier.

• If you’re eating a high-carb diet, you must – by definition – be eating a low-protein diet.
  Quality animal protein is important for building and repairing cells in your body – everything from muscle to brain tissue. And yes – protein can aid in satiety (feeling full).

• What about fats?
  Well, it would be interesting to know which fats the researchers used. Good fats such as coconut oil, olive oil, raw nuts, organic animal fat and avocado can assist in stabilising your hormones, improve your digestion, aid in mental focus, and give your body the energy it needs to burn excess fat. Avoiding fat in your diet is a sure-fire way to poor health and adverse physical symptoms such as cellulite.