The role of dietary protein on weight loss and body composition in men and women with insulin resistance

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Obesity is an increasing problem in the community and is associated with an increased incidence of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglycerides, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Although conventional dietary advice for weight loss is a low fat high carbohydrate and high fibre diet there is a very strong interest in the media and the general population in alternative diets that feature reduced carbohydrate with the remainder of the diet either protein or a mixture of protein and fat. Unfortunately there is very little published data to guide the decisions of health professionals in this area and there is a strong demand for such information. We plan to perform 2 large weight loss studies which focus on high protein diets with one exchanging protein for carbohydrate and keeping fat constant and the second exchanging protein for fat keeping carbohydrate constant. We will assess whether the high protein diets blunt the decrease in metabolic rate that occurs with weight loss, and whether it spares some of the inevitable loss of muscle mass. We will also measure whether high protein diets improve glucose metabolism in people already at risk of diabetes and heart disease because of their obesity and high insulin levels.