Some fitness professionals have begun recommending low protein intakes for losing arm fat and for increasing general health. Is low protein the way to go for arm fat loss?
Absolutely not.
Unfortunately, the need to come up with something new to sell has led many marketing departments to push unsubstantiated programs onto the general public. And if you decrease protein by too much, your health could suffer some serious consequences.
Thus, here are some reasons why low protein intakes will not help your arm fat mission:
1. Weak skin. Your skin (an organ) is the first line of defense against invading entities. It provides a very physical barrier for all those germs that would literally eat you alive. And if there is not enough protein in your diet, your skin will become thinner and less resistant to the invaders.
2. Poor digestion. If you cannot extract all the necessary nutrients from food while dieting, you will not get as much energy from each calorie you eat. Not good for losing arm fat. Low protein intakes damage your digestive lining.
3. Organ reduction. Unfortunately, the organs responsible for manufacturing antibodies and fighting infection will decrease in size if there is not enough protein in your diet. And remember that a single bout of sickness will set back your arm fat mission by weeks.
4. Impaired immune response. Overall, the general immune response in your body gets impaired. Not only does it take longer for you to kill invading microbes, but you have less immune cells to carry on the fight. In the end, low protein intakes are a sure fire way to increase frequency of sickness.
5. A decreased metabolic rate. Your body needs complete proteins to fully recover from intense workouts. If you restrict protein, you will not be able to maximize muscle gains from resistance training. And recall that less muscle translates into less muscle mass which translates into slower arm fat loss.
After all is said and done, you are far better off by having a moderate protein intake. The key here is moderation because if you take too much there are also negative consequences. Your body is very smart and it will do everything in its power to avoid extremes. So if you want to lose arm fat moderation is the way to go.
Katherine Crawford MS, a Harvard exercise physiologist and recent arm fat victim, is an expert on arm toning exercises. Unearth how to get toned arms right now by exploring her blog on upper arm exercises.