Losing weight is a difficult process, which is why there is a multi-billion-dollar industry built around it. It’s a big problem in Australia, considering almost two-thirds of the nation’s adults were reported as being overweight or obese in 2022- that’s 65.8% of the population, a very large figure! Nobody wants to be overweight, and many will do just about anything to shed those extra kilos. There are a lot of fad diets out there that make big promises but offer iffy results at best, and may even be harmful to your health, so you must be cautious! If you are part of this widespread malady, don’t despair, there actually are really effective things you can do to help you lose that weight!

One of the real, proven to be effective weapons we have in our war against weight is whey protein powder, which can help your body do what you want it to do- slim down! Let’s learn some more about what this amazing natural product is, and how it can help:

Whey is the liquid portion of milk that is separated during the process of cheese production. Whey protein is a mixture of the two main types of protein found in milk, casein and whey. Cheese is produced by removing the watery part of milk leaving behind the fatty parts which then coagulate to form the whey, which is separated out as a byproduct. Cheesemakers used to throw the whey away before they realized its benefits to people’s health! 

Following its separation during the cheese-making process, whey undergoes various steps to form whey protein powder. The powder itself doesn’t taste all that great which is why it’s generally added to flavoured protein bars and shakes before consumption. The most popular flavours are vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate. 

So, how does whey protein powder help you to lose weight? By increasing your muscle density, which causes your metabolism to burn more calories, even when you are simply resting, which results in you losing fat! Having a higher percentage of muscle over fat will make your BMR, or basal metabolic rate which refers to how much energy you expend in a day, grow higher, thus burning away unwanted fat cells.

Amazingly, even just the process of digesting whey in your stomach burns calories because it is a thermogenic food!  Drinking a shake or eating a bar that contains whey protein also increases your body’s production of a peptide that stimulates a hormone that causes a feeling of satiety, which makes you feel full for a longer period of time and prevents those in-between meal cravings.

Many people, like bodybuilders, consume their whey protein supplements directly after a workout to help them repair their muscles, but a recent study demonstrated that while most people eat a carbohydrate-based snack prior to exercising, that practice only encourages the body to burn sugar instead of fat, while taking whey protein first instead caused more fat to be burned!

You can’t lose a lot of weight by only consuming whey, but it definitely does help you in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise plan.