John Berardi

Since the late 1990′s Dr. John Berardi has published 8 scientific abstracts; 15 scientific papers and textbook chapters; presented at nearly 50 scientific, exercise, and nutrition related conferences; and published countless articles online.

His first articles at Testosterone Magazine so many years ago, provided me with the basis for everything I know about nutrition today. Now I will turn some of that knowledge over to you in the form of Nutrition Tips written by Dr. Berardi himself.

Today’s Topic – Protein for Fat Burning

Protein is one of the most important nutrients for gaining muscle, and in fact is the MOST important macronutrient. We already know this.

What many of you didn’t know is that protein is also the superior macronutrient for burning fat.

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Carbohydrates make you bloated and lazy. They drive up your blood sugar, and cause your body to crash down into sugar cravings and cheat meals. Nutritionist and coaches began to abandon the high carb / low fat diet back in the 90′s. There is no place for high carbs on a fat loss diet.

Fats are very high in calories at 9 calories per gram (protein and carbs have 4 calories per gram), and are often the last of the macronutrients to be broken down for energy. While fat doesn’t cause water retention and diabetes like carbs do, maximizing fats in your diet is still not the ideal way to diet for fat loss. This is one reason for the push away from the once-popular Atkins plan, into more of a 30-30-40 type of diet.

Proteins have only 4 calories per gram, but unlike carbohydrates they don’t assault your pancreas and bloat your abdomen. In fact, your body actually burns more calories per gram digesting protein, than it does burning an equal number of carbohydrates.

Take your current diet into consideration. By keeping total calorie intake the same, increasing protein intake to 1-1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight, and decreasing carbs and fat accordingly, you will be helping your body to burn more calories on a daily basis than if you continued on your lower protein diet.

If you need help figuring out how much protein to eat each day, check out the post that asks, How much protein should I eat in a day?

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Upping your protein intake will help you to build muscle and lose fat faster than ever before. Don’t make the mistakes of the high carb and Atkins dieters before you. Take advantage of our currently knowledge of macronutrient nutrition to burn fat faster than ever!

But don’t take my word for it. Let’s see what JB has to say about it:

Tip: Protein for Fat Burning

“Protein is by far the most thermogenic of the macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate, and fat). Due to the high metabolic costs of processing it, protein provides fewer storable kcal.

The thermic effect of a mixed meal is about 10% of intake, while the thermic effect of protein per se is more like 25-30%.

That could mean reving up your metabolism by 200 kcal just from your 200-gram (800 kcal) protein intake.”

See Also

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Project Swole is managed and mostly written by Steve, a formerly IFPA and ISSA certified personal trainer and sport nutritionist, who has been studying, practicing, and experimenting with fitness and nutrition since 1992. Please use the content at Project Swole to supplement the advice of your doctor or physician. All medical questions should be directed towards a qualified medical professional, and the advice provided at Project Swole should be used at your own discretion.

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Related posts:

1. How Much Protein Should I Eat in a Day?
2. Nutrition Tip: Eat Pasta Carefully
3. Nutrition Tip: Buying Organic is Not What’s Most Important
4. Unhealthy Health Foods
5. Nutrition Tip: The Sunday Ritual

Tags: Diet, john berardi, nutrition, precision nutrition, protein

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Nutrition Tip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.