Humans, like many other species, regulate protein intake more strongly than any other dietary component and so if protein is diluted there is a compensatory increase in food intake. The hypothesis proposes that the dilution of protein in modern-day diets by fat and carbohydrate-rich processed foods is driving increased energy intake as the body seeks to satisfy its natural protein drive—eating unnecessary calories until it does so.
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Because data indicate that children and adolescents also show protein leverage, the authors discuss the potential impact of exposure to a high-protein diet in preconception or early life (for example through some infant formula feeds) in potentially setting up increased protein requirements and greater susceptibility to lower protein, processed diets in later years.
Growing evidence supports the protein leverage hypothesis as a significant mechanism driving obesity, study finds (medicalxpress.com)Interesting hypothesis and possibly in conflict with the numerous calls to ban the consumption of meat. You can get some proteins from non-meat sources but doing so is often more difficult, tends to require global sourcing of ingredients.
