Medscape: [https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/how-educate-patients-protein-needs-during-weight-loss-2025a1000bbx|How to Educate Patients on Protein Needs During Weight Loss]
Hi, I'm Dr Lucas. I'm board certified in internal medicine and obesity medicine. In this video, I'll review the evidence on how much protein is optimal for muscle mass and strength improvements. All protein amount numbers discussed here are expressed as grams of protein per kilogram of total body weight per day.
The recommended dietary allowance for protein is set at 0.8. This was established as the minimum amount of protein to preserve nitrogen balance, but as we'll see, it is far too low to provide optimal benefits.
In a small weight loss study involving young males, all participants engaged in full-body strength training workouts two times a week for 4 weeks and were divided into protein groups at 1.2 and 2.4.
Despite consuming about 180 more calories per day, the 2.4 group lost more fat, at 10.6 lb, vs 7.7 lb for the 1.2 group. This may have occurred because the body burns more calories to metabolize protein relative to carbohydrates and fats.
The 2.4 group also gained much more lean mass, at 2.6lb, vs 0.2 lb for the 1.2 group.As a reminder, lean body mass is a proxy for muscle mass.
A different study without a weight loss focus was performed in older adults and included twice-a-week strength training with two groups for protein at 1.0 and 1.3. Both groups had increases in strength. However, the 1.0 group lost 0.6 lb of lean body mass at 24 weeks whereas the 1.3 group gained 2.8 lb of lean body mass.
Separately, evidence from a meta-analysis that assessed data from numerous individual studies determined 1.6 to be the optimal amount of protein per day for improving muscle mass.
The takeaway is that, while strength training is the most important, protein consumption still has a significant effect on lean body mass changes that will occur in association with strength training.
Overall, 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day may be enough to prevent loss of lean body mass during weight loss, but 1.6 or more may provide additional benefit, particularly for highly active individuals.
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