9 High-Protein Foods that MELT Fat! (doctors won't tell you)

One of the most common things I hear from people, especially over the age of 40, is this sense of confusion. They are eating less, they're trying to be mindful. They may even be prioritizing protein already, but the scale is just stuck. Their midsection feels totally inflamed, and fat loss feels harder instead of easier. Now, what I want you to hear right from the start is this. The the struggle is not a personal failure. It's not a lack of discipline. It's a metabolic signal mismatch. Protein plays a much bigger role in fat loss than most people realize, especially when hormones, insulin, cortisol, muscle preservation, all start to shift with age. But not all protein works the same way. And some sources are far more effective at targeting stubborn belly fat than others. So in this episode today in my time with you, I'm going to walk you through nine high protein foods that actually help to melt fat, not by stressing your body, but by supporting appetite control, supporting muscle maintenance, blood sugar balance, and metabolic repair. These are the foods that I use clinically, foods that I use personally, and foods that work with your physiology instead of fighting against it. I'm Dr. Ashley. If this is the first time you've come across one of my videos or episodes, I'm the founder of PhD Weight Loss and Nutrition, where to date we have served over 11,600 people nationally. Collectively, we have dropped now about over £500,000. And my goal with this channel is to give you the information you need to actually create positive change in your own life and if it has to do with fat loss, to keep it off long term. Hey, really quickly.

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So let's get into it now. The first protein is whey protein combined with collagen protein. These two share the top spot because together they give you the fastest Cleanest metabolic support for fat loss, especially the visceral belly fat. And it's great when you can combine the two. Now, whey protein absorbs very quickly. That fast absorption sends an immediate fullness signal to your brain and helps to protect lean muscle. Preserving muscle, you know, is critical as we age. If you are over the age of 40, the primary thing you want to be focusing on is preserving muscle. Muscle is what keeps your metabolic rate from slowing down. Now, I like collagen as well, and why I've combined it with whey and in in my top nine protein suggestions is because collagen is really great for the hair, skin and nails. It's really great if you want to protect and support your tendons. It helps to lower ghrelin, which is your primary hunger hormone, and supports all different types of connective tissue and gut lining. Right? These are all areas that tend to take a hit during weight loss and even just through aging together. Whey handles the fast signal and muscle protection. Collagen helps to handle appetite regulation and structural support. Now, before we go any further, I want to say this. If you are someone who needs momentum first, if seeing the scale move quickly helps you stay consistent long enough for your metabolism to actually heal, I just released another video that explains how to lose weight rapidly without it wrecking your hormones or crashing your energy. It walks you through when fast fat loss helps, when it backfires, and how to do it in a way that supports the visceral belly fat loss instead of sabotaging it. If you're watching this video on YouTube, I'm going to link that video right here and in the description. If you're listening to this on a podcast episode, come on over to YouTube so you can check out this video as well. Okay, let's keep going. Number two is salmon. Salmon earns a special spot because it does something that most proteins don't. It directly supports belly fat reduction. Salmon provides high quality protein plus omega 3 fats that reduce inflammation and improve insulin sensitivity. Chronic inflammation is one of the main reasons that belly fat becomes resistant with age. Salmon also has a naturally strong thermic effect, which means that your body burns calories just digesting it. A typical serving gives you about 22 grams of protein along with these really healthy fats that actually help your metabolism work better. And for the amount that you want to consume each week, a good goal is a about two to three servings. All right, Number three is chicken breast. Chicken breast delivers more usable protein per calorie than almost any whole food out there. If your goal is to increase protein without increasing calories, this is one of the cleanest ways to do it. A 100g serving provides about 31 grams of lean protein. That level of protein density helps preserve muscle while you are burning fat, which is especially important as muscle naturally declines with age. So again, muscle preservation needs to be your number one focus. It's also very practical. You can cook it once and you can use it throughout the week. You can stick it in salads or bowls and soups. You can make lots of different simple meals with a cooked chicken breast. Number four is Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt is unique because it contains both whey and casein protein. Whey absorbs quickly, casein digests slowly. So together they provide this immediate fullness and sustainability. Sustain satiety for hours. That combo is incredibly helpful for appetite control. Greek yogurt also supports gut health with all the probiotics. As long as it contains those active cultures, your gut plays a huge role in appetite signaling and inflammation and fat storage. So you want to eat to support your gut. Now look for plain, unsweetened, preferably organic Greek yogurt. If you can avoid non fat fat free yogurts. You want to have some healthy fat in there and you want to make sure they have the live cultures and no added sugars. All right, Number five is cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is naturally high in casein, which makes it one of the slowest digesting proteins available, which is good. A single cup can provide about 24 to 28 grams of protein. That slow digestion keeps blood sugar stable. It keeps your hunger calm throughout the day. Four hours. It is especially helpful in the evening or as a part of a balanced meal. It's also pretty versatile. You can eat it sweet. You can add some whey protein into it. You can put cinnamon on it, you could put some stevia in there. Or you can eat it savory. I like salt and pepper on my cottage cheese. You can blend it into a smoothie. You can get a ninja creamy and you can make protein based ice cream out of it with cottage cheese. I've done that a few times. It's pretty delicious. Or you can just eat the darn thing plain. All right. Number six are whole eggs. Eggs deliver one of the strongest appetite control effects of any breakfast food. It's really interesting. If you're watching this on YouTube, I would love for you to drop your comments below. If you were to eat a breakfast of oatmeal, even if they're steel cut oats, put Some brown sugar on there and some raisins versus two to three eggs. Which one do you feel fuller for longer? Let me know in the comments below. Now the answer probably is eggs. Starting your day with whole eggs really helps to regulate hunger hormones. It reduces calorie intake later in the day without much effort. That's what we want, right? We want to feel full so that we don't have these cravings later in the day and have a tendency to overeat or binge later in the night because we haven't eaten good full whole foods during the day. Now, each egg provides about 6 grams of complete protein. 6 to 7, 6 to 7 plus choline, B vitamins, healthy fats found in yolk. Those nutrients support your liver function, hormone production and energy stability. So you want to make sure when you are eating eggs that you always eat the yolk. The yolk is where all of the vitamins and minerals come in. I want you to think that an egg is nature's multivitamin. It's really a beautiful thing. Number seven is tuna. Tuna is one of the leanest, most convenient protein sources available. A small can delivers over 20 grams of protein with very few calories. I personally like Safe Catch as the brand. I have no affiliation toward it. I have one of my kids loves tuna fish. Tuna fish and Primal Kitchen mayo. Primal Kitchen is another great brand. Uses avocado oil and when he's consuming that much tuna, I like to know that they've checked it for mercury and try to reduce the amounts of mercury in the tuna to begin with. So anyway, you could check out that brand. Tuna is an excellent backup protein for busy days when meals fall apart. Having a reliable protein option prevents reactive snacking and blood sugar crashes. You can pair it with mayo. Again, I like Primal Kitchen. You can do mustard, avocado and it will help you to support you in creating this nice, good, full, balanced meal. Number eight is red meat. High quality red meat is one of the most misunderstood fat loss foods out there. Grass fed beef, bison, venison provide highly bioavailable protein, iron, zinc and B12. Right? Nutrients that directly support your metabolism, your thyroid function, your energy levels. Low iron, you guys and low B12 are common in midlife women specifically, but also in men and can quietly stall fat loss by increasing your cravings and your fatigue and your cortisol levels. A three to four ounce serving of red meat delivers around 22 to 26 grams of protein and creates a strong feeling of fullness without blood sugar spikes. The key is quality and portion not avoidance. I eat red meat like every day and there was a time in my life where I completely avoided it. And I will say that my health, my body composition, my overall energy levels are much better than they were when I tried to avoid eating any type of red meat out there. So really has benefited me. If you don't consume red meat, I urge you to consider if you've had a time in your life where you haven't consumed red meat and you've added it back in, I'd love to hear your thoughts and your experience around it. If you're listening to this on YouTube and you want to share your experience around avoiding red meat or adding it back in, I'd love to hear it. Drop it in the comments below. All right, number nine is tempeh and edamame group together. Now I wouldn't put this on here because high quality protein does come from animal sources, but I know that not everyone is open to eating animal protein. So I wanted to include an option here for those of you who don't. If you do eat animal protein, then I suggest that you focus on the top eight here that I've mentioned. If not, here's something that you could put together. So soybean based proteins are unique among plant proteins because they do provide a complete amino acid profile. The thing is, they're not easily absorbed. You're not going to absorb and utilize as much of the protein as you would get from the animal protein sources, but they're going to be one of your best options. Your best plant based options. So tempeh itself is fermented which improves digestion and protein absorption. It provides about 20 grams of protein per serving and has a hearty texture that works well in savory meals. Edamame is one of the only plant proteins that is naturally complete and it's lower calorie. A cup provides around 18 grams of protein and has a pretty high satiety. By satiety I mean fullness score. You want to make sure that you always choose non GMO sources and pay attention to how your body responds. Now here is a key point I want you to remember that protein does not burn fat by itself. Protein works by stabilizing your blood sugar, lowering hunger hormones, preserving muscle and reducing inflammation. When those systems are supported, belly fat becomes accessible again. And if you want to go one step further, pairing the right proteins with targeted metabolic support can dramatically improve your results. That's why I often recommend Glucocut plus from my website DrashleyWellness.com Glucocut plus is designed to support healthy blood sugar signaling, appetite regulation and insulin sensitivity, which are the three biggest drivers of stubborn belly fat. Especially after the age of 40, when your blood sugar is steadier, hunger is calmer, when insulin is working properly, fat becomes easier to access. And when those systems are supported together, weight loss really stops feeling like a constant fight. Now, glucocut plus is not a stimulant. It does not force your body to do anything. It supports your body's pathways your body already uses to regulate appetite and metabolism naturally. If stubborn belly fat has been one of your biggest frustrations, this could be one of the tools that can help remove the breaks, so to speak. Now if you're watching this on YouTube, there is a link in the description if you want to learn more with a special discount. If you're not watching this on YouTube and you're listening to it on a podcast platform, just go to drashleywellness.com to learn more. Your body is not broken. It is responding to the signals that it's receiving from what you're eating and from your environment and your lifestyle behaviors. When you change the signals, everything else changes as well. Thank you for being here. Thank you for taking care of yourself. And remember, you got to step up to make the change. Lead with your heart, train your mind and do not negotiate with your body. I'll see you on the next one.