Dietary strategies that can help reduce hunger and promote fullness are beneficial for weight control, since these are major limiting factors for success. High-protein (HP) diets, specifically those that maintain the absolute number of grams ingested, while reducing energy, are a popular strategy for weight loss (WL) due to the effects of protein-induced satiety to control hunger. Nonetheless, both the safety and efficacy of HP WL diets have been questioned, particularly in combination with low-carbohydrate advice. Nonetheless, for short-to-medium-term intervention studies (over several months), increasing the energetic contribution of protein does appear effective. The effects of HP diets on appetite, bone health, renal function, blood pressure, cardiovascular bio-markers, antioxidant status, gut health and psychological function are discussed. Further research is warranted to validate the physiological effects of HP diets over longer periods of time, including studies that modify the quality of macronutrients (i.e. the type of carbohydrate, fat and protein) and the interaction with other interventions (e.g. exercise and dietary supplements). What is a high-protein diet?An important factor to consider is the definition of a 'highprotein (HP) diet', as there are several ways to consider the protein content of a diet. The composition of the diet can be determined as the absolute amount of the protein (grams), the % of total energy as protein or the amount of protein ingested per kg body weight. Normal protein intake in the UK is approximately 16% of energy intake(1) for a sedentary adult, which is approximately 64-88 g/d at energy balance for females and males, respectively. There is no general consensus as to what a 'high'-protein diet is: the food industry use the term 'protein-enriched' for 20 % protein from energy. The HP diets reported for weight loss (WL) studies often include 30% of energy intake as protein. There are many variants such as the Zone diet (2) and the CSIRO diet (3) . In general, protein as a percentage of energy is doubled from 15 to 30%. Note, this does not mean that absolute protein intake (g) is doubled, as energy intake is reduced, with only a 20 % increase in the actual amount (g) of protein. The guidelines from the Institute of Medicine allow for the inclusion of higher amounts of protein than previously recommended in a healthy diet (4) . This Institute concluded that there is no clear evidence that an HP intake increases the risk of renal stones, osteoporosis, cancer or CVD. Thus, the acceptable protein distribution for maintenance requirements was set to 5-20% of energy for children aged 1-3 years, 10-30 % for children aged 3-18 years and 10-35 % for adults. It is not clear as to how much protein is required to maximise proteininduced satiety for energy restriction and WL or whether there is a relationship with the energy density of the diet.Both the safety (5) and efficacy (5) of HP WL diets have been questioned, particularly in combination with low-carbohydrate advice (6) . Low-ca...