In overweight women on a 1250 kcal/day diet, eating 124 grams of protein per day does not lead to lower overall calorie intake when they are allowed to eat freely afterward, even though they report...

Pro

Against

Mechanism

Synthesis from 1 study

How it works

Eating more protein makes you feel full and less like eating junk food, but when fatty or sugary foods are right in front of you, your brain still pushes you to eat them because they feel rewarding. The feeling of fullness doesn't stop that reward-driven urge.

Most probable mechanism

In Simple Terms

Eating a lot of protein makes the stomach and brain feel full and reduces the urge to eat sugary or fatty foods, but when those foods are available, the brain still drives the person to eat them because the pleasure they give is stronger than the fullness signals.

Causal chain

High protein intake increases circulating levels of satiety hormones including peptide YY and cholecystokinin, which activate vagal afferents and hypothalamic nuclei to suppress hunger signaling.

Supported by evidence

which leads to

Despite elevated satiety signals, the presence of high-fat and high-carbohydrate foods triggers dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens, reinforcing consumption through reward pathways independent of energy need.

Supported by evidence

which leads to

Hedonic feeding circuits override homeostatic satiety signals during ad libitum access to palatable foods, resulting in continued intake despite reduced cravings and increased perceived fullness.

Supported by evidence

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

Community contributions welcome

Increased Protein Consumption during the Day from an Energy-Restricted Diet Augments Satiety but Does Not Reduce Daily Fat or Carbohydrate Intake on a Free-Living Test Day in Overweight Women.

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2017 Dec

Contradicting (0)

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Increased Protein Consumption during the Day from an Energy-Restricted Diet Augments Satiety but Does Not Reduce Daily Fat or Carbohydrate Intake on a Free-Living Test Day in Overweight Women.

Score: 68

DOI: 10.3945/jn.117.255554

Similar Assertions

In overweight women eating fewer calories, increasing daily protein intake from 48 grams to 124 grams does not change how much fat and carbohydrate-rich food they eat later, even though they report feeling fuller and having fewer food cravings.

94%

In overweight women eating a 1250 kcal/day diet, increasing protein intake from 48 grams to 124 grams per day reduces hunger, desire to eat, prospective food consumption, and fast-food cravings, while increasing feelings of fullness, but does not change how much fat- and carbohydrate-rich food they eat afterward.

92%

Overweight women who eat 124 grams of protein per day while on a 1250-calorie diet experience lower hunger, less desire to eat, reduced thoughts about future food intake, and fewer cravings for fast food than those who eat 48 grams of protein per day on the same diet.

89%

When the proportion of protein in the diet is lowered from 15% to 10% of total calories, people tend to eat more total food to maintain their protein intake, resulting in higher overall energy consumption.

81%

Among overweight women eating fewer calories, consuming beef protein or plant-based protein results in the same levels of fullness, food cravings, and later consumption of fats and carbohydrates.

81%