Welcome to part 3 of the health heroes nutrition series!
In this blog we are going to answer the question “What is protein?” , “Why should I have protein in my diet?” and “Where can I get protein?”
What is protein?
Protein is a vitally important macronutrient that our body needs to survive, A real building block of the body.
Lots of people associate protein as a major component of the bodies muscles which is completely correct, which is why to maintain or build muscle we do require a good amount of protein within our diet (Roughly 30%of what we eat).
However, what a lot of people don’t actually realise is that protein is also a major component of various other bodily tissues even including our hair.
Many people will try to avoid too much protein as they feel it will cause the body to become bulky and to gain unwanted weight but this is completely inaccurate, too many calories will cause the body to gain weight and a lot of protein rich foods are fairly high in calories, if we keep our portion sizes correct and have a good blend of protein in there you will feel many benefits including an increase in muscle recovery, improved energy levels and even stronger hair.
essentially what we are saying here is that protein is a major building block of your body and your body will thank you LOTS for getting enough in (we encourage around 1-1.5g of protein for every kilogram of weight)
Why should I eat protein?
As explained above protein has many benefits to the body, we are not going to bore you with science and lots of different types of proteins and descriptions.
Here is a list of benefits your body will feel from taking in enough protein:
- Faster and improved muscle recovery
- Stronger hair
- Your body will feel fuller for longer
- It burns more calories digesting protein than other nutrients, burning more calories = losing more fat!
- Better skin
- Stronger, healthier bones
Where can I get protein?
Another common misconception is that you will only get protein from meats! this is not true protein comes in many different forms, here is a list:
- Soy products such as Soy milk, Soy beans and Soy protein powder
- Meat products like Poultry, Beef, Pork and also Fish
- Dairy products like Milk, Cheese and yogurts
- Meal replacement shakes like Whey and Soy protein shakes
We hope this brings you some value and it would mean an absolute tonne to us if you could share this post with friends and family in the hope it can help as many people as possible.