What is The Protein Power Diet?

The Protein Power Diet plan has gained popularity as we have learned how much easier it is to lose and maintain weight when an appropriate level of protein is eaten and carbohydrates are minimized.

How The Protein Power Diet Started

The original Protein Power Diet is chronicled in a book by Michael and Mary Dan Eades, two physicians who came up with the diet. Their books explain every aspect of the diet in detail, and are certainly worth reading before embarking on the diet.

The basics of the Protein Power Diet are pretty simple, however. By eating the right amount of protein and limiting carbohydrates, blood sugar levels stay stable, which helps the body burn fat.

Calories are not limited on the Protein Power Diet, but carbohydrates are limited and are counted very carefully.

Principles of The Protein Power Diet

The books written by Michael and Mary Dan Eades offer two alternatives for counting your protein and carbohydrates. You can either count grams of each, while sticking to a particular list of food, or stick to the list of foods and count servings of each type of food. Counting servings is a simpler method for most people.

The basis of your diet is protein, and it is critical that you get an adequate amount of protein in order to help with weight loss, but also in order to prevent being hungry. Adequate amounts of protein stave off hunger because they take longer to be processed by the body, leaving you feeling full.

The Protein Power Diet recommends that dieters get between 100-120 grams of protein per day. This is a bit on the high side of what most nutritionists recommend, but is not unhealthily high.

List of Protein Power Foods:

1. Beef – most cuts contain about 7 grams of protein per ounce
2. Chicken – contains about 10 grams of protein per ounce
3. Fish – contains about 6 grams of protein per ounce
4. Pork – contains about 7 grams of protein per ounce
5. Eggs – contains about 6 grams of protein per large egg
6. Cheese – contains 6-10 grams of protein per ounce depending upon the cheese. Harder cheeses have more protein than softer ones.

During the Protein Power Diet, you’ll minimize the carbohydrates eaten. During the early phases of the diet, all of your carbohydrates will come from low carb vegetables like broccoli, spinach, salad greens etc.

As you progress, you’ll add starchier vegetables and some other starches like potatoes, rice and pasta. However, these starchy foods will always be consumed in less quantity than protein while you’re trying to lose weight.

Will I Lose Weight On The Protein Power Diet?

Low carbohydrate diets like the Protein Power Diet are effective for weight loss. When carbohydrates are consumed in such low quantities, the body has a much easier time burning up stored fat.

The only issue with low carbohydrate diets is that if the dieter goes back to eating a diet high in starchy foods like white flour, sugar, potatoes, rice and pasta, the weight may come back rapidly.

In order for the Protein Power Diet, or any other low carbohydrate diet to be effective in the long run, you must be committed to minimizing the highest carbohydrate foods for the long term.