Research
Hormonal
High-protein diets (above 25-30% energy) promote satiety and reduce fat mass without affecting lean mass, primarily through hormonal signaling (low ghrelin, high leptin) and reduced reward sensitivity.
To lose fat while keeping muscle, aim for a diet where 25-30% or more of your calories come from protein. This helps you feel full, reduces hunger hormones, and lowers your sensitivity to food rewards, making it easier to stick to a calorie deficit.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
High-protein feeding usually stimulates satiety pathways by increasing anorexigenic signals and reducing both orexigenic signals and the sensitivity to feeding of reward-driven mechanisms in the brain... This is also associated with lower body weight gain, and fat mass without affecting lean body mass.
Why this rating
Supported by multiple human and animal studies cited in the review.
Source
Protein metabolism and related body function: mechanistic approaches and health consequences
Daniel Tomé et al. · Proceedings of The Nutrition Society · 2020
DOI 10.1017/s0029665120007880
narrative_reviewCited 30×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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