Is Diet Whey Protein Good For Losing Weight?

Studies have shown diet whey protein can be a good supplement for losing weight. Taking diet whey protein like any whey protein improves satiety. This means you'll feel fuller making it easier to consume less calories. A negative energy balance and satiety are key factors in a successful weight loss regime.

Long Run Weight Loss And How Diet Whey Protein Can Help

The condition for losing weight and maintaining it in the long run is dependent upon:

1) Sustained satiety despite a negative energy balance.

2) Sustained basal energy expenditure despite BW loss due to a sparing of fat-free mass (FFM), being the main determinant of basal energy expenditure.

Dietary protein intake has been shown to assist with meeting these conditions, since amino acids act on the relevant metabolic targets (1).

In simple terms this means burning more calories than you consume but feeling full. This feeling of fullness is often over looked when people try to lose weight. Without achieving this feeling of fullness, you are depending on willpower.

The required daily intake is between 0.8 and 1.2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight whilst restricting the intake of both carbohydrates and fat. The intake of too low an amount of absolute protein has been shown to contribute to the risk of regaining bodyweight. In fact, there is evidence to suggest the famous ‘low carb’ diet attributed a lot of its success to the relatively high-protein content rather than the restriction of carbohydrates (2).

How Diet Whey Protein Can Help With Weight Loss

One serving of diet whey protein packs in 25g of protein, with just 3.4 grams of carbohydrates and 2g of fat. This is an easy way to ensure you mean the goals of satiety whilst maintaining a negative energy balance. As mentioned before satiety is an often-overlooked aspect of weight loss with most people just focusing on maintain a calorie deficit. Diet whey protein is not only a great way to maintain satiety but it also a fast source of protein. The great thing about diet whey being a fast source of protein is how you can quickly make a protein shake if you find yourself struggling with your calorie deficit. The speed at which you can get the diet whey protein into your system can make all the difference between maintaining your calorie deficit or slipping into a calorie surplus. And suffering from weight gain.

Is Diet Whey Protein Better Than Whey Proteins When It Comes To Weight Loss?

A common question amongst asked by people attempting to lose weight is whether “Diet Whey Protein” is better than other forms of protein powder such as “Whey Protein Isolate” and “Pea Protein Isolate”.

There has been an explosion in the popularity of diet versions of whey protein powder. And these protein shakes are often seen as the premier supplement whens it comes to a weight loss diet which maintains muscle mass. However, the difference between “Diet Whey Protein” and other protein shakes is not what you may think. The term diet does not come the supplement having reduced fat, carbohydrates and sugars in comparison to other protein powders.

The difference with a diet whey protein shake is what additional ingredients are added to the supplement. This is most commonly L-Carnitine and Green Tea Extract.

All whey protein and vegan protein shakes are diet friendly this added “diet” to “diet whey protein” is purely down to the added ingredients showing some evidence of assisting with weight loss. 

L-Carnitine has shown it can assist the body use fatty acids for energy (3). Not only does this help burn fat it also helps avoid muscle loss as it promotes the burning of fat rather than muscle for energy. This is the reason for L-Carnitine gaining its reputation as both a fat-burner and a muscle preserver. Evidence shows a dose of 1g per day can be effective in burning fat. Our diet whey protein contains 525mg of L-Carnitine per serving meaning two servings per day would allow you to fall in the effective dose range of 1-4g (4)

Green Tea extract has been proven to boost metabolism. Green Tea Extract contains catechins which have been shown to increase energy expenditure and fat oxidation (breakdown of fat into energy) (5)

Whether you choose to go with a diet whey protein or an alternative protein supplement will come down to your own personal preferences. All protein supplements are good for dieting. They all allow for a high protein intake, an easy way to control calories, carbohydrates and fat. The only real difference you will see between products is the addition of extra ingredients like L-Carnitine and Green Tea Extract. As well as slightly different protein levels per servings and calorie counts.