High-Protein Diets Cancel Out Weight-Loss Benefits

A high-protein diet does not promote healthful weight loss, according to a study published in Cell Reports. Researchers assigned obese postmenopausal women to a calorie-restricted diet with either a high-protein (1.2 g/kg) or normal-protein (0.8 g/kg) diet and monitored insulin sensitivity. Although both diets resulted in a reduction in body weight, the high-protein group did not improve its insulin sensitivity or reduce oxidative stress as observed with the normal-protein diet. Researchers caution that high-protein diets’ failure to improve the primary mechanism for type 2 diabetes raises concern.