protein.
This is how it works: During the digestive process, your body breaks down food into its basic components—carbohydrates, fats, and proteins—and turns them into energy it can use. There’s a trade-off: To get the energy from the food, the body must spend some of its own energy. There’s a scientific name for this use of energy to digest and metabolize food—“dietary-induced thermogenesis” (DIT). Carbohydrates and fats generate about the same low DIT. Protein’s DIT is huge in comparison—more than two and a half to three times greater. So, in order for the body to obtain energy from dietary protein, it must give up almost three times more energy than it needs for either fat or carbohydrates.
What this means is that protein boosts your metabolism and causes you to lose weight more rapidly than the same caloric amounts of fat or carbohydrates. A study carried out at the Dunn Clinical Nutrition Center in Cambridge, England, by Dr. M. J. Dauncey and colleagues showed that during a twenty-four-hour period, a high-protein diet increased total energy expenditures by 12 percent (220 calories) compared to a calorically matched high-carbohydrate diet.
Over six months—with absolutely no increase in exercise or decrease in caloric intake—a high-protein diet could cause you to lose 10 to 15 pounds. Over those same six months—with increased exercise and a somewhat decreased caloric intake—a high-protein diet could cause you to lose 30 to 75 pounds!
Think about it. You don’t have to cut calories one bit. You can lose 20 to 30 pounds in a year with utterly no change in the quantity of food you eat or even any change in your exercise habits. Or a lot more than that if you exercise more or eat less. That’s just what happened with Dean.
Losing 75 Pounds in Six Months: Dean’s Story
In April 1999, Dateline NBC ran a feature story of my research into Paleo diets and interviewed Dean Stankovic, age thirty-two. Dean’s weight had fluctuated wildly on his 6-foot, 3-inch frame since his graduation from high school, at one point reaching a high of 280 pounds. Before he adopted the Paleo Diet, Dean had tried dozens of diets. Although Dean was very determined to lose weight, he just couldn’t seem to stick to traditional low-calorie diets like the one created by Weight Watchers. They made him feel hungry all the time. Worse, on all of these diets, his weight dropped at first—but the longer he stayed with them, the slower the weight loss became. This is because the body’s metabolic rate slows down to conserve body stores during periods of starvation—which is exactly what low-calorie diets are. Eventually, after a few months of starvation with these low-calorie diets, no matter how strong his willpower and resolve, Dean always went back to his normal way of eating—basically, the standard American diet.
Dean had tried the high-fat, low-carbohydrate diets advocated by Dr. Atkins and others. He lost weight with these diets but complained of a low energy level, lethargy, and constant fatigue. He also believed that all of those fatty, salty, bacon-and-egg breakfasts, greasy sausages and salami, and fatty cheeses just couldn’t be good for his body. And these diets became boring. It was fun at first to trade in one evil (sweets and starches) for another (fats). But after a while he craved apples, peaches, and strawberries—any fresh fruit. Dean just couldn’t imagine going through the rest of his life eating only tiny amounts of fruits and veggies. This was not a lifelong way of eating! Life was not worth living when all he had to look forward to was fatty meats and cheeses, cream, and butter. Dean’s mind and body rebelled, and he found himself once again down in the dumps—back to his old diet and back to his old weight.
In the fall of 1998, Dean met a young woman who had been eating in the Paleo manner for a number of years. She gave Dean some of my writings and dietary recommendations. After a few false
This is how it works: During the digestive process, your body breaks down food into its basic components—carbohydrates, fats, and proteins—and turns them into energy it can use. There’s a trade-off: To get the energy from the food, the body must spend some of its own energy. There’s a scientific name for this use of energy to digest and metabolize food—“dietary-induced thermogenesis” (DIT). Carbohydrates and fats generate about the same low DIT. Protein’s DIT is huge in comparison—more than two and a half to three times greater. So, in order for the body to obtain energy from dietary protein, it must give up almost three times more energy than it needs for either fat or carbohydrates.
What this means is that protein boosts your metabolism and causes you to lose weight more rapidly than the same caloric amounts of fat or carbohydrates. A study carried out at the Dunn Clinical Nutrition Center in Cambridge, England, by Dr. M. J. Dauncey and colleagues showed that during a twenty-four-hour period, a high-protein diet increased total energy expenditures by 12 percent (220 calories) compared to a calorically matched high-carbohydrate diet.
Over six months—with absolutely no increase in exercise or decrease in caloric intake—a high-protein diet could cause you to lose 10 to 15 pounds. Over those same six months—with increased exercise and a somewhat decreased caloric intake—a high-protein diet could cause you to lose 30 to 75 pounds!
Think about it. You don’t have to cut calories one bit. You can lose 20 to 30 pounds in a year with utterly no change in the quantity of food you eat or even any change in your exercise habits. Or a lot more than that if you exercise more or eat less. That’s just what happened with Dean.
Losing 75 Pounds in Six Months: Dean’s Story
In April 1999, Dateline NBC ran a feature story of my research into Paleo diets and interviewed Dean Stankovic, age thirty-two. Dean’s weight had fluctuated wildly on his 6-foot, 3-inch frame since his graduation from high school, at one point reaching a high of 280 pounds. Before he adopted the Paleo Diet, Dean had tried dozens of diets. Although Dean was very determined to lose weight, he just couldn’t seem to stick to traditional low-calorie diets like the one created by Weight Watchers. They made him feel hungry all the time. Worse, on all of these diets, his weight dropped at first—but the longer he stayed with them, the slower the weight loss became. This is because the body’s metabolic rate slows down to conserve body stores during periods of starvation—which is exactly what low-calorie diets are. Eventually, after a few months of starvation with these low-calorie diets, no matter how strong his willpower and resolve, Dean always went back to his normal way of eating—basically, the standard American diet.
Dean had tried the high-fat, low-carbohydrate diets advocated by Dr. Atkins and others. He lost weight with these diets but complained of a low energy level, lethargy, and constant fatigue. He also believed that all of those fatty, salty, bacon-and-egg breakfasts, greasy sausages and salami, and fatty cheeses just couldn’t be good for his body. And these diets became boring. It was fun at first to trade in one evil (sweets and starches) for another (fats). But after a while he craved apples, peaches, and strawberries—any fresh fruit. Dean just couldn’t imagine going through the rest of his life eating only tiny amounts of fruits and veggies. This was not a lifelong way of eating! Life was not worth living when all he had to look forward to was fatty meats and cheeses, cream, and butter. Dean’s mind and body rebelled, and he found himself once again down in the dumps—back to his old diet and back to his old weight.
In the fall of 1998, Dean met a young woman who had been eating in the Paleo manner for a number of years. She gave Dean some of my writings and dietary recommendations. After a few false
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