Because the human intestine also produces glucose, the researchers believe
this system might someday become key to treating weight disorders.
Dr. Ken Fujioka, director of nutrition and metabolic research at Scripps
Clinic in San Diego, expressed enthusiasm for the researchers’ work.
“The work is with rats, and in feeding it doesn’t always translate to
humans,” he said. “But the way they’ve looked at this is novel, and it does seem
to make sense.”
“It’s contrary to what many people think, which is that driving up glucose in
the blood will drive up eating, but that’s not necessarily true,” added Fujioka.
“And for a while now — over the last five years — we’ve really started to
realize that protein is one of the best foods for satiating the brain. So, this
paper shows that actually there’s some biology behind this.”
However, Lona Sandon, an assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, cautioned that the study might
implicitly over-emphasize the benefits of protein.
“There’s definitely research out there that protein does help us to feel
satisfied with what we’ve eaten, on a smaller amount of food,” she said. “But
it’s not as simple as that, because there’s also certain carbohydrates —
particularly high-in-fiber-type carbohydrates, like whole wheat, bran, fruits
and vegetables — that will do that equally, if not better, than protein. So,
there’s this misconception that we need to eat all this protein.”
“Protein is just one piece of the puzzle,” she advised. “And the bottom line
is we need to consider more than protein when controlling appetite.”
More information
Check out the U.S. government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005.
SOURCES: Gilles Mithieux, Institut National de la Sante et de la
Recherche Medicale, Lyon, France; Lona Sandon, RD, assistant professor, clinical
nutrition, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, and
spokeswoman, American Dietetic Association; Ken Fujioka, M.D., director,
nutition and metabolic research, Scripps Clinic, San Diego; November 2005
Cell Metabolism
Copyright © 2005 ScoutNews LLC. All rights reserved.
Scientists Uncover Protein’s Weight-Loss Secrets was originally published on blackdoctor.org
