For many years bodybuilders have raved about the benefits of high protein intake and how it helps gain or maintain muscle mass. Usually the problem is bigger with bodybuilders that are dieting. Obviously as calorie intake is reduced, so is protein intake. If the calorie intake is too low, muscle tissue will be sacrificed.
Recently research has indicated that protein intake is even more important when calories are lowered to lose bodyfat. Researchers from the UK looked at how the protein content of a lower calorie diet affected changes in lean muscle mass. They had 2 groups of subjects. One group ingested about 1 gram of protein per kg of bodyweight. The other group ingested 2.3 grams of protein per kg of bodyweight. The diet was about 60 percent of their calorie needs for two weeks. Both groups lost about the same amount of body fat. The interesting part was that the group that ingested about 1 gram per kg lost more muscle mass. The study states that after the 2 week period the 1 gram per kg group lost more than 3 pounds of lean mass on average, while the higher protein group kept almost all their lean muscle tissue.
The lesson here is obvious. To keep losing body fat you need as much muscle mass on your body as possible. The more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolism. In order to keep the metabolism elevated while dieting, you need to increase your protein intake.
References:
Mettler S, Mitchell N, Tipton KD. Increased protein intake reduces lean body
mass loss during weight loss in athletes. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2010 Feb;42(2):326-37.
