Protein help for a freind

[Jazzer]

Could someone who knows more about diet than me (probably most of you) breifly explain in laymans terms why it is so important for someone wanting to lose bodyfat (not a bodybuilder) to keep their protein levels reasonable to succeed. I thought around 1 - 1.5g per lb of lean body mass. Is this right? My freind (lets call them) won't listen to me.
BTW this person is female and doing vanilla HST on a slight calorie deficit.
TIA,
J

 

[JonnyH]

Lotsa reasons, because of its thermic effect of feeding - it takes more energy for your body to digest protein than either carbs or fat, so you burn more calories through simply digesting your food by increasing your protein intake.
It also has the greatest effect on satiety so your fuller for longer and far less likely to overeat and so able to stay on your calorie deficit.
And obviously when losing fat you wanna hold onto as much muscle mass as you can regardless of whether your a bodybuilder or not simply to keep your basal metabolic rate as high as possible.

 

[Totentanz]

The main reason?

To spare lean mass, obviously. In layman's terms - On a calorie deficit, your body doesn't just pull all the energy it needs from fat. If only it did, then, you know, dieting down would be easy! Keep protein high so your body doesn't have to break down as much muscle while it is starving. Your muscle in your body is protein, right? So if you keep your protein intake real high, your body will have plenty of protein to use, so it won't have to mess with your muscles as much.

Calories should be cut from fats and carbs, not from protein.

 

[Jazzer]

Thanks for your replies. Thats pretty much as I thought and it seems to have made a difference so thanks again.
J