High Protein Low Fat Meal Plans

High protein low fat meal plans are an excellent way to improve your overall health and lose excess weight.

The Effects of a High Protein Low Fat Diet

Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet high in protein and low in fat with moderate carbohydrates keeps your body satisfied and feeling full. This happens because proteins make you feel full for longer time periods than fats or carbohydrates due to the fact that foods rich in proteins pass through the body’s gastrointestinal track at a slower rate than other foods.

Other effects of a high-protein low fat diet include:

• The amount of calories that you take in per day drops because you feel less hungry when you eat more protein and fewer carbohydrates,
• Protein also has a positive effect on your blood sugar, keeping it at a stable level. Often carbohydrates cause a sharp rise in blood sugar levels.
• It takes more calories to digest protein than to burn carbohydrates or fats in the body.

A High Protein Low Fat Meal Plan

When following a high-protein, low-fat diet plan it is important to keep your meals balanced. suggested dietary recommendations include:

• 20 percent healthy fat
• 30 to 35 percent protein
• 45 to 50 percent carbohydrates

Low Fat Foods High in Protein

The following foods are excellent sources of low fat protein.

• Skinless chicken breast
• Skinless turkey breast
• Fish
• Lean beef, veal, lamb or pork
• Egg whites
• Beans
• Legumes
• Low fat dairy products
• Nuts
• Seeds

Good Carbohydrates

Fruits Vegetables Whole grains that are high in fiber

Healthy Fats

• Nuts
• Seeds
• Avocados
• Vegetable oils

Popular High Protein Low Fat Meal Plans

Two of the most well known high protein low fat meal plans are the Zone Diet and the Stillman Diet Plan.

High Protein Low Fat Plans for Building Muscle Mass

Some high protein low fat plans are geared toward body building and building lean muscle mass. Many of them feature protein drinks, powders and bars along with a recommended food plan. Two examples of these high protein plans are Designer Whey and Tom Venuto’s Burn the Fat.

The CSIRO Total Will Being Diet

A popular low fat high protein diet plan known as the CSIRO diet was developed by an Australian clinical research unit. The researchers were looking for links between genetic and nutritional factors and diseases such as diabetes and cancer.

This popular meal plan promotes a low fat and low calorie diet that includes plenty of fruits and vegetables, two portions per day of lean protein and a low amount of carbohydrates. Recommendations for daily servings include:

• Three servings of cereal and bread
• Two servings of dairy
• Two servings of fruit
• 2 ½ cups a vegetables
• 3 teaspoons canola oil
• 10 ½ ounces of protein - 3 ½ ounces at lunch and 7 ounces at dinner

Available in book form, the CSIRO Total Well Being Diet is available from Amazon.

High Protein Low Fat Resources

• Muscle Meals: Delicious Low Fat High Protein Recipes by John Romano is offered at Amazon.
• A delicious Milk Shake recipe
• Truly Huge has several great recipes.

A Word of Caution from the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association, points out that there are risks associated with staying on a high-protein, low fat diet plan for an extended period of time. Their main concern is that many of these types of meal plans do not provide all of the essential nutritional vitamins and minerals needed by the body.

Conclusion

As in all types of meal plans, slight variations in foods and proportions of food types exist when looking at different suggested high protein low-fat plans. Before starting any diet plan it is always best to check with your medical doctor to see if a high protein, low fat meal plan is the way for you to shed those extra pounds and still maintain a healthy diet.