Evidence for Protein Leverage Hypothesis is Growing

Protein intake is tightly regulated by humans, along with many other species. If protein intake is reduced, a corresponding increase in food consumption occurs. According to the theory, the body consumes extra calories when searching for protein to satiate its natural protein drive because processed foods high in fat and carbohydrates dilute the amount of protein in modern diets.

Research Support from the Royal Society

This study, which was a result of the Royal Society Discussion Meeting conducted in London in October of last year, demonstrates how observational, experimental, and mechanistic research are increasingly in favour of protein leverage as a significant mechanism causing obesity.

The protein leverage effect combines with settings of industrially processed foods and with changes in protein requirements across the life course to raise the risk of obesity, as shown by the authors’ overview of published studies that encompass mechanisms of protein desire.

For instance, different protein requirements may change at specific life stages (such as the transition to menopause), as well as a combined effect with changes in energy expenditure or activity levels (such as retired athletes or young people adopting more sedentary lives). The authors discuss the potential effects of exposure to a high-protein diet during preconception or early life (for example, through some infant formula feeds) in potentially establishing increased protein requirements and greater susceptibility to lower protein, processed diets in later years. This is because data suggest that children and adolescents also exhibit protein leverage.

The Fight Against the Obesity Epidemic

The authors contend that an emphasis should be placed on integrative techniques that look at how different factors interact in obesity rather than viewing them as conflicting explanations because the World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified obesity as the biggest health concern confronting humanity. This will also assist academics and decision-makers in figuring out how to advance the discipline and which factors might be most important in combating the burgeoning obesity epidemic.

The authors’ verdict: “…it is only through situating specific nutrients and biological factors within their broader context that we can hope to identify sustainable intervention points for slowing and reversing the incidence of obesity and associated complications.”