Research
Energy balance
High protein intake significantly increases energy expenditure (thermogenesis) primarily through the energetic costs of protein turnover, ureagenesis, and gluconeogenesis.
If you are trying to lose fat, increasing protein intake can help by increasing your daily energy expenditure through the thermic effect of food. This is due to the high energy cost of processing amino acids into urea and glucose.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
This partly explains (in addition to the cost of whole-body protein turnover) the high thermogenic effect of protein ingestion.
Why this rating
Supported by stoichiometric calculations and in vivo human studies cited in the review.
Source
Protein Turnover, Ureagenesis and Gluconeogenesis
Yves Schütz · International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research · 2011
DOI 10.1024/0300-9831/a000064
narrative_reviewCited 181×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Excess dietary protein cannot be stored in the body and is instead oxidized for energy or converted to glucose/urea, meaning high protein intake does not directly lead to increased tissue storage without concurrent resistance training.Good
- Gluconeogenesis from amino acids is a vital survival mechanism during starvation or low-carbohydrate intake, mobilizing muscle tissue to maintain blood glucose levels.Good
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