High-protein diet when young ‘increases risk of later-life weight gain’

People who ate a high-protein diet when they were young grow up to have bodies that are primed to react unhealthily to food binges, a study has claimed.

Researchers from the University of Calgary in Canada discovered, through studies on juvenile rats, that lasting changes result from consuming foods that are high in protein.

Some of the rats were placed on a high prebiotic fibre diet, others ate high-protein food and another group was given a normal diet.

They consumed these diets for 14 weeks and then they were switched to a high-fat, high-sugar diet for a further six weeks.

"After a weaning diet high in protein, the rats demonstrated an increase in body weight and fat mass in response to the high energy diet. They also showed higher energy intake than the fibre-diet rats," said study leader Raylene Reimer.

The results of the study suggest that those who grew up eating lots of protein may find that they put weight on more easily than those who consumed lots of fibre as an adolescent.

Last month, scientists from Maine in the US discovered a new protein that they claim could help people to lose weight and keep it off.

Was your diet rich in protein or fibre when you were young?