Research
Energy balance
A high-protein diet during energy restriction activates mitochondrial oxidation, which is positively correlated with resting energy expenditure and inversely related to fat mass, potentially explaining the enhanced weight loss.
High-protein diets may work by boosting your mitochondria's ability to burn fuel, which helps maintain your metabolic rate and burn more fat, even when you are eating fewer calories.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Interestingly, an activation in the mitochondrial oxidation was found in the high-protein-fed group. This stimulation was positively correlated with the final resting energy expenditure and negatively associated with the final fat mass content.
Why this rating
Small sample size (n=19), but uses a specific metabolic tracer method (2-keto[1-13C]isocaproate breath test).
Source
Effects of two energy-restricted diets differing in the carbohydrate/protein ratio on weight loss and oxidative changes of obese men
Itziar Abete et al. · International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition · 2008
DOI 10.1080/09637480802232625
rct · n=19Cited 37×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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