The Importance of Protein for Weight Loss

Whether it be for recovery after a tough training session or a convenient, tasty and quick snack between meals, protein is a must have cupboard staple when you are trying to lose weight. Research has found that high protein and lower carbohydrate nutritional plans designed for weight loss are more likely to achieve sustained weight loss and well being results.

4 TOP Benefits of including a Protein Supplement in your fat loss regime

1 - Increase Muscle Tone and Improve Muscle Recovery

Including a protein supplement in your daily nutrition will assist with muscle recovery and repair. In particular if you can consume your protein supplement within the hour after you work out it will allow your body to get maximum absorption and protein synthesis (protein delivery to the muscle tissue), using the protein to repair and build lean muscle tissue. Perfect for those wanting to achieve a toned an defined look.

2 - Increase your Metabolic Rate

The thermic effect of food is the increase of the metabolism to allow our bodies to process and digest different types of food (macronutrients). Protein when compared to carbohydrates and fats has a markedly higher thermic effect on the metabolism (ie. your body has to work harder to digest protein than it does to digest carbohydrates). Further to this, if you can increase your lean muscle mass as mentioned above in point 1 your body's resting metabolic rate will also increase as lean mass (muscle and bone) takes more energy expenditure for your body to maintain than fat mass does. Finally if you can include a protein supplement for a convenient snack between main meals, ie. eating every 2-3 hours, as part of a balanced nutritional plan it will keep your metabolism running at full speed meaning you will burn even more calories throughout the day.

3 - Improve Satiety, reduces cravings and balances your blood sugar

Eating a diet high in protein has a hunger reducing effect for most people. Protein will slow down the digestion process providing more satisfaction and a longer "full" feeling. Whereas foods high in fast releasing carbohydrates or sugars digest quickly and can spike your insulin leaving you feeling hungry for more just half an hour later. Studies have shown that protein will not cause the same blood sugar spikes as sugar and most carbohydrates, but rather can actually help to stabilise blood sugar levels and reduce cravings.

4 - Easy, Portable, Tasty, Convenient & Fast Nutrition

Sometimes things get a bit crazy and our meal prep Monday's just fall by the wayside. Don't we all know it? Having a protein supplement on standby serves for the perfect snack when you just don't have time to make a fresh fruit, chia and acai power bowl. It allows you to stay on the bandwagon with convenience and minimal effort and it's a lot better for you than picking up a chocolate or sugar filled nut bar from the local store. Protein is also fantastic for when those inevitable cravings hit, you may find that a tasty protein shake can hit the spot instead!

Things to consider before buying a Protein Supplement!

So now you know the benefits of having a protein supplement here's a few things worth considering before you dive in!

- Check the Label

In particular the sugar content! There are some very tricky companies out there who target "fat loss" meal replacement shakes to people trying to lose weight whilst sneakily filling their products full of fast releasing sugars. Designed to give people short term results, however when they stop using these meal replacement their sugar cravings come back with a vengeance and hence the weight piles back on driving them back to the products that gave them those fast results. Many people will pick up a product based on online reviews or "testimonials" without looking into the ingredients of the products first. 

(This product contains almost 2 teaspoons of fast releasing sugar!)

  Check the Source

When buying your protein supplement it is always wise to check where the protein is sourced from. We recommend BioFurnace by BioFlex as it is sourced from Australian and New Zealand, hormone free, grass fed animals of the highest quality and includes added ingredients targeted to people trying to lose fat.

Adding a high quality protein supplement into your nutritional plan is a great way to support muscle recovery and sustained fat loss. The right protein supplement will assist you to increase your satiety, boost your metabolism and stabilise blood sugar levels, not to mention the peace of mind and  convenience it provides allowing you to stick with your long term weight loss goals.

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