Eating less protein, combined with consuming extra calories, may lead to fat gain that won’t show up on the bathroom scale. How can that be? The findings from recently published research may be surprising to some.

A study conducted by researchers at Louisiana State University’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center followed 25 young adults, ages 18 to 35 with BMIs ranging from 19 to 30, who agreed to live in the university’s metabolic unit for three months. After working with researchers to find a daily calorie intake that would maintain their current weight and eating a weight-stabilizing diet for 13 to 25 days, the volunteers began a diet consisting of an extra 954 calories per day with varying amounts of protein, and had their every bite monitored to assure they ate every morsel of food.

Why the Obesity Epidemic Could Be Much Worse Than We Think – Beth Fontenot – Health – The Atlantic