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...

Pro

Against

Mechanism

Synthesis from 1 study

How it works

More protein makes you feel less hungry and less like eating sweets, but it doesn't turn off your brain's desire for tasty, fatty, or sugary foods when they're right in front of you. Your stomach tells your brain you're full, but your brain still wants the cookies.

Most probable mechanism

In Simple Terms

Eating more protein makes the stomach and brain feel full faster and reduces the urge to eat sweets or snacks, but it does not change how much the brain wants to eat tasty, high-fat, or high-sugar foods when they are available.

Causal chain

Elevated protein intake increases circulating amino acid concentrations, which stimulate gut hormone release including glucagon-like peptide-1 and cholecystokinin, enhancing vagal afferent signaling to the brainstem.

Supported by evidence

which leads to

Increased vagal afferent input elevates activity in the hypothalamic satiety centers, reducing perceived hunger and suppressing cravings for energy-dense foods.

Supported by evidence

which leads to

Neural reward pathways in the mesolimbic system remain responsive to palatable fats and carbohydrates, maintaining motivation to consume these foods regardless of satiety signals.

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 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 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.

86%

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.

83%

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.

82%