Higher Protein Diet Helps Keep Hunger Away

http://www.healthday.com/view.cfm?id=534662

Below is copied from the article:

Higher Protein Diet Helps Keep Hunger Away
Animal studies illuminate mechanism that boosts hormone controlling weight


TUESDAY, Sept. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Eating more protein can help
increase levels of a hunger-fighting hormone called peptide YY (PYY),
British scientists report.

Previous research found that injections of PYY could reduce food
intake by a third in both normal-weight and obese people.

"We've now found that increasing the protein content of the diet
augments the body's own PYY, helping to reduce hunger and aid weight loss,"
study leader Rachel Batterham, of University College London, said in a
prepared statement.

In research with obese and normal-weight people, Batterham and her
colleagues found that boosting the amount of protein in the diet stimulated
greater release of PYY in the body than either high-fat or high-carbohydrate
meals, resulting in a greater reduction of hunger.

Further investigation in mice found that high-protein diets increased
the rodents' PYY levels and reduced the number of calories they consumed.
Mice fed a high-protein diet also produced more PYY and gained less weight
than mice fed the usual amount of protein.

Batterham's team also found that genetically modified mice unable to
produce PYY ate more and became extremely obese. These mice were resistant
to the effects of a high-protein diet, which demonstrates a direct link
between protein and PYY, the scientists concluded.

When the genetically modified mice were treated with PYY, they lost
weight.

"The findings show that PYY deficiency can cause obesity and that PYY
appears to mediate the beneficial effects of increased protein-content
diets," Batterham said. "One potential weight-loss strategy is therefore to
increase the satiating power of the diet and promote weight loss through the
addition of dietary protein -- harnessing our own satiety system."

She said much more research is needed before any particular
high-protein diet could be recommended. Batterham emphasized that any such
diet would not resemble the Atkins diet, which is high in both saturated fat
and protein.

The findings were published in the September issue of Cell Metabolism.