“Will high protein, low carb shakes help me lose weight?” is a question I see asked in online health groups a lot so I thought it would be a good idea to answer it here.
Protein is one of the most important nutrients for weight loss. Consuming the right amount of protein on a daily basis can help boost your metabolism, minimize your cravings, and help you lose fat without losing muscle mass.
There are many ways to incorporate protein into your diet but one of the easiest ways for many trying to lose weight is through high protein, low carb shakes. In studies, these shakes have been shown to help people lose weight. Let’s find out more about this.
High Protein Low Carb Shakes & Weight Loss
Boost Metabolism
One of the best ways to lose weight is to increase your metabolism. If your metabolism is high, you’ll be able to break down foods faster and keep your energy levels high. High protein low carb shakes have been shown to help boost your metabolism.
The reason behind this is because a high protein diet can help you to build muscles especially if you combine it with strength training. This could increase your metabolism since muscles are able to burn more calories than fats.
Ready made protein shakes are often fortified with vitamins and minerals so they provide you with reasonably high-quality nutrition without having to deprive yourself of a good meal.
Protein can help to speed up your metabolism because it has a high thermic effect. This means that your body will be able to burn more calories to digest it. For instance, during the process of digestion, there’s about 15 – 30% of protein calories burned while only 0 – 3% of fat calories.
Minimize Your Cravings
Another way in which protein can help you to lose weight is because it has the ability to decrease hunger, and as a result, your cravings will be minimized. Many people have discovered this when they follow a low carb diet like the keto diet.
According to Brigitte Zeitlin a clinical dietitian at Mount Sinai Medical Center,
“Protein plays a big role in weight loss because it keeps us full and satisfied so that we make it to our next meal without snacking in between”
Several studies have shown that protein is indeed effective in helping you to feel full longer. In one study increasing protein intake from 15% to 30% of total calories helped participants consume 441 fewer calories per day without actively trying to limit their portions!
Basically, protein decreases your appetite since it affects your body’s hunger hormones. Consuming the right amount of protein can also help you to feel full longer so you’ll end up eating less, which greatly helps in weight loss.
Help Lose Fat Without Losing Muscles
Losing weight may cause you to lose muscle and this could slow your metabolism down. This is not a good thing because you could easily gain back the weight you have lost, especially after you’ve completed your weight loss diet.
Taking high protein low carb shakes along with strength training can help to prevent muscle loss as you lose weight. It also keeps your metabolism high so you won’t easily gain back the weight you’ve lost.
Eating a higher protein diet has been shown to help people lose belly fat and dangerous visceral fat which is an area that tends to be hard to shift fat from.
Disadvantages of high protein, low carb shakes
This discussion would not be complete without mentioning some of the drawbacks of using these shakes as an aid for losing weight.
Using shakes is not the same as eating real food. Although many are fortified with vitamins and minerals they are usually synthetic and may not be good absorbable forms. Neither will they contain the same amount of antioxidants and phytonutrients that real food supplies.
Using shakes for an extended period of time could result in becoming deficient in certain nutrients.
Depending on how many shakes you use a day any weight lost may be put back on when you return to normal eating.
Using more than one shake a day may result in side effects such as fatigue, light-headedness, altered bowel habits and stomach cramps.
Using just one shake a day is probably the best way for most people having trouble losing weight with food alone but it does mean reducing calories which in same cases leaves people hungry.
Conclusion
There are many ways in which protein can help you in your goals of losing weight. The best way is really from your diet but for some people the easiest and quickest way way is to consume high quality, high protein, low carb shakes like Dr KellyAnne’s Slim Collagen Chocolate Almond Shake or the Vanilla Almond Slim Shake.
Dr Kellyanne’s Slim Collagen Shake mixes are gluten, dairy, grain and soy free. They will boost weight loss without feelings of hunger and STOP sugar cravings and satisfy your sweet tooth!
When buying protein powder, read the labels very carefully. Opt for a good quality low-carb and high-protein powder with no sugar added. Better yet, make your own shakes at home. There are lots of low carb high protein shake recipes online, which is especially suitable for those who are following a low carb diet like the immensely popular keto diet.
