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Does Whey Protein Help With Weight Loss? | Ask The Fitness Nerd

Is the whey protein-weight loss connection fact or fiction? Find out from the Fitness Nerd if using whey protein for weight loss is “yeah” or “nay. “

Dear Fitness Nerd,

I have a question for you around whey protein and weight loss.

I would consider myself to be pretty fit. I lift weights, run and do Body Pump and am pretty lean already, although I don’t know my exact body fat right now.  I’d really like to make this the year that I get flat abs, but I still have some belly fat I’d like to make go away. Nothing major, just a little “pooch” and a smidge more side and back fat than I want …. we’re not talking a muffin top or anything like that though.

My girlfriend suggested that I try drinking more whey protein to lose weight. Her boyfriend is in really good shape and drinks a ton of protein shakes and she seems to believe that’s why he is so lean. She’s in great shape herself and uses a lot of whey protein, so I’m inclined to believe her.

What are your thoughts here?  I really just want to lose those last couple of lbs of belly fat. I’m fairly tall and already pretty toned, it’s just my damn belly that I want to tighten up. Can whey protein help with this?

By the way, I already drink whey protein powder once a day in soy milk, usually in the morning and sometimes after I work out.  Thanks for your time. Alicia (Long Island, NY)

Alicia, this question pops up a lot on discussion boards and in places like Yahoo Answers and Yedda.  So you’re not the only one who is trying to figure out if there is really a connection between whey protein and weight loss.  I probably see a variation on your question at least 2-3 times a week.

There are definitely a lot of “opinions” floating around out there around whey protein for weight loss. There’s some truth to them, but they are also tied up in a lot of myths, as well. So the trick is to understand exactly what whey protein is (and isn’t) so you can come to your own conclusions based on the facts.

What Is Whey Protein?

Whey is just a form of protein that is naturally-present in diary products like skim milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, etc. If you drink a glass of milk, you are already consuming some whey proteins. The whey protein that you are talking about is in a powdered form. Basically, the manufacturer takes liquid whey and “dries it”, making whey protein powder – a form of whey that is portable and easy to reconstitute.

So What Does Whey Protein Do For A Person?

The main benefit to whey protein is that it is easily and quickly digested by the body.

The body is also able to quickly utilize most of the amino acids in whey protein to help with tissue repair and recovery after exercise.  The protein in whey has a high biological value (BV), meaning it’s easily absorbed by the body. Unlike other proteins, like casein (another form of protein in milk), the speed at which whey protein is digested makes it an ideal source of protein immediately following workouts when your body needs amino acids quickly to aid with recovery.

Whey protein, especially whey protein isolate (an even more concentrated form of whey protein vs. whey protein concentrate), is also very low in fat and carbohydrates. This is because the refinement process used to create whey protein powder removes nearly all of the fat and sugars in the liquid, leaving a final product that is almost 100% protein by volume.  So this makes whey protein popular among dieters and people who are trying to limit carbohydrates or fat in their diet.

Whey protein has other properties that may have health benefits, including the presence of certain biologically active compounds that may improve immunity and even stave off muscle wasting. However, the main reason people consume whey protein is to encourage lean muscle growth and sometimes as a meal replacement.

Using Whey Protein For Weight Loss

Okay, now that you know what whey protein is, let’s tackle your question about whey protein and weight loss.

First, it’s important to understand that there is nothing particularly magical about whey protein that will directly cause you to melt off that last pound or two of belly fat and get abs like Jessica Biel. Whey protein is not an anabolic steroid — it’s a food.

In fact, the goal of drinking whey protein is usually to add weight (in the form of additional muscle), not to lose it. 

That said, because your real goal here isn’t to lose scale weight, but to lose body fat and change your body fat percentage to favor lean tissue, including some additional whey protein in your diet could help you become leaner overall … and yes, that would probably include losing some belly fat.

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Why Answer Fitness®?

So I finally did it. I took the plunge and started a blog.

First, an admission. And then some explanation.

The admission: I started Answer Fitness®  for some pretty self-serving reasons.

Now the explanation.

Answerfitness.com exists because I really needed a single place to collect all of the fitness tips, diet tricks, health and nutrition research, recipes, and workout regimens that I currently have scattered in various bookmarks, Microsoft Word documents and yellow sticky notes. So at the most basic level, this website is a way for me to organize my own training and health.

But there are some other reasons ….

Continue reading Why Answer Fitness®?…

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About Answer Fitness®

Answer Fitness® provides practical fitness advice and information on diet and nutrition, exercise , weight-loss and weight training for people who are passionate about fitness and staying in shape, regardless of their experience level.

My Goal

This is not a diet blog.

While food is major focus of Answer Fitness®, my goal is to shift people’s thinking regarding good nutrition from something that they pay attention to only when they need to lose weight, to something that they think about every day. Once you begin eating healthy, you should never have to go “on a diet” again. 

So who is this “Matt” guy and why should I listen to him?

The simple answer is that I’m one of you. I’m not a professional athlete, competitive body builder or a doctor. 

What I am,  is a “fitness nerd.”

And I wear this badge proudly.

This means I feel strongly that working out is 75% mental. 

For me, physical activity is a medititation of sorts. And I love the science of it all. The amazing ability of the body to adapt to whatever we heap on it. The chance for us to live longer, be healthier and more fit than our parents or grandparents. The physical challenge to be better than what we are drives me. 

I also want to break the stereotype that being fitness-minded means you can’t be … um … minded.

I have dual bachelors degrees in Philosophy and History from the University of Michigan. So in addition to running Answer Fitness, holding down my “day job” and working out, I also like all kinds of ”nerd” stuff like Russian Literature, WWII military history, Plato and Anatomy & Physiology.  

Finally, I don’t blog because I need income.

I do it instead, because,  like my readership, I’m passionate about eating healthy, staying in shape and passing on some knowledge.

I don’t know it all and I admit this. So I spend a lot of my free time (what I have of it), digging through scientific research to try to come up with something objective and proven that I can pass on to the people who visit my site.

My day job is interactive marketing, which means I spend a lot of my time sitting behind a computer or in a meeting room. Fitness for me is both a hobby and a necessity. Working out let’s me blow off steam, clear my mind and focus for 90 minutes each day on something other than Google algorithms or website conversion. For me, exercise and eating well are just as important as feeding your mind. I try to do all three. 

In the end, it always comes back to the basics: eat well and close-to-the-earth, exercise frequently and workout hard in the gym. There are no “magic pills” or “revolutionary” diets that can substitute for these three principles.  Period. I know it, because I’ve been there.

Answer Fitness® was inspired by my experiences as a Top Contributor to the Diet and Fitness category in Yahoo Answers.

Fitness and healthy eating seem of the surface to be very simple things, but people are perpetually confused. Between the seemingly contradictory scientific research around diet that people read online and in the news, the amazing claims of diet and supplement marketers, and the practical challenges of staying active in an increasingly sedentary society, people are looking for answers, not just hype, to stay healthy and fit.

Finally, you’ll see me talking a lot about food. Yes, I want you to eat. While it may seem counter-intuitive, you can’t lose fat without eating. But I also want to challenge the perception that a lot of people have that you can’t eat healthy and burn fat and have your meals taste phenomenal.

I actually flirted with the idea of naming this blog “No Boiled Chicken” because the idea that eating healthy requires you to consume bland foods like boiled chicken, canned tuna and brown rice drives me crazy.

I have bodybuilder friends who struggle to gag down yet another boiled chicken breast, when — with a little help – they really could be eating “clean” and enjoying their food, instead of dreading it. I want to change that.

So welcome to Answer Fitness® and say goodbye to canned tuna!

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