URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Aug. 26 (UPI) -- A good weight-loss program combines diet and exercise, but a University of Illinois study says exercise works best with a protein-rich diet.
A higher-carbohydrate, lower-protein diet based on the U.S. government's food guide pyramid actually reduced the effectiveness of exercise, according to Donald Layman, a University of Illinois professor of food science and human nutrition.
"There's an additive, interactive effect when a protein-rich diet is combined with exercise," Layman said. "Both diets work because, when you restrict calories, you lose weight. But the people on the higher-protein diet lost more weight. Some people refer to this as the metabolic advantage of a protein-rich diet."
The dieters with the protein-rich, high-exercise group lost even more weight, and almost 100 percent of the weight loss was fat, Layman said. In the high-carbohydrate, high-exercise group, as much as 25 percent to 30 percent of the weight lost was muscle.
The findings are published in the Journal of Nutrition.
