Is a high-protein diet a fact or a fad?
Two ASU professors will determine the answer to that question by using ASU faculty and students in a six-week weight-loss study that started Monday.
Carol Johnston, a nutrition professor and Pam Swan, an associate professor of exercise wellness, will study the effects of three different diet methods consisting of high-protein, counting calories and exercise only.
Johnston and Swan will conduct the study using three groups following one of the prescribed diet programs each. The subjects range in age from 25-65 and have to lose at least 10 pounds to participate in the study.
“We’re doing this very carefully, so we’re anticipating weight loss,” Johnston said.
Researchers have never studied the results of a high-protein diet, Johnston said. A high-protein diet consists of eating more proteins such as meats and little or no complex carbohydrates such as breads and pasta.
The high-protein diet challenges the government recommendation to follow the nutrition pyramid, which is high in carbohydrates and low in proteins.
“What has been advised is not working,” Johnston said. “People are getting fatter and fatter.”
The funding for the study came from ASU. If the experiment is a success, Johnston said she hopes to obtain more money for future research.
Larry Woodruff, an exercise and wellness lecturer, said the study would be valuable and unbiased.
“There has not been enough research done on high-protein diets,” he said.
Experts in the field do not know the long-term effects of high-protein diets, Woodruff said.
Johnston said diet methods should be more specific to find out what promotes healthy weight loss.
Subjects are required to eat only what they are given from the metabolic kitchen in the nutrition department and must exercise in the lab with Swan, who is in charge of exercise training.
Swan said subjects will start low-impact exercise three times a week, then move to fairly vigorous exercise five times a week.
Studies have shown that subjects lose more weight with diet alone than with exercise alone, Swan said.
Johnston will also look at metabolic rate, body fat and kidney functions and will measure glucose, insulin and trigylceride levels of each subject.
The subjects are voluntarily participating, but will gain important information about themselves and will lose weight, Johnston said.
The study will be completed in November and the results will be available by the end of the year.
Reach Jennifer Voges at jennyvoges@hotmail.com.
