Are you getting enough protein for a healthy diet? Are you looking to lead a healthier lifestyle? There are so many different areas you can focus on, ranging from diet to exercise to mental health and well-being. Chances are, if you’ve been doing some research into healthy living, one subject may have jumped out at you or been advertised to you multiple times: protein bars, protein shakes, protein powders and so much more. The moment you start searching how to come up with the best possible gym routine, how to get into exercising, toning up, building muscle, or anything else along the same lines, you’re likely to encounter the same word time and time and again. Protein. Protein. Protein. But this is for good reason. When it comes down to it, protein really iis an essential part of any journey to good health and fitness.Here’s some information that can help you to get to know the ins and outs of protein, as well as where to source it for your diet!
Types of Protein
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Let’s start out with the basics. First of all, it’s generally accepted that there are two types of proteins: complete proteins and incomplete proteins. There are twenty different amino acids that can form a protein. The body can only produce eleven of these on its own, and these are called “essential amino acids”. It’s extremely important to get the other nine types of proteins into your body through your diet. The nine that you need to source from food are called histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. You may hear people referring to complete proteins and incomplete proteins.
- Complete proteins – if the protein you eat has all the 9 types of amino acids you need to get from food, it is called a “complete protein.”
- Incomplete proteins – If the protein you eat doesn’t have all the nine types of amino acids you need to get from food, it’s called an “incomplete protein.”
Proteins can also be differentiated into the categories of plant-based proteins and animal-based proteins. Plant based proteins include soy, pea, brown rice and chickpea. Animal based sources of protein include whey (dairy), casein (dairy), egg, beef and chicken.
Getting Protein in Your Diet
Of course, to get enough of anything in your diet, you’re going to have to consciously work it into your meals and snacks. Here are a few ways to get sufficient protein into your diet to be healthy!
Dietary Supplements
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Any easy place to start is dietary supplements. Of course, you shouldn’t solely rely on supplements to provide you with protein, they can be a good addition to a healthy and balanced diet. Protein products like Protein Powder have been specially designed to contain high levels of protein, so are a good way to top up your levels. Sure, you can get protein in traditional forms of supplements like tablets, capsules, or pills. But protein powders do tend to be the most popular option, with many people actively looking forward to a delicious shake before a workout, stirring protein powder into oats in the morning or adding it to pancake mix for a snack.
Eggs
Eggs are a great source of protein, but it’s important to remember that different sized eggs will offer different amounts. The guide below should help:
- Small egg (38 grams): 4.9 grams of protein
- Medium egg (44 grams): 5.7 grams of protein
- Large egg (50 grams): 6.5 grams of protein
- Extra-large egg (56 grams): 7.3 grams of protein
- Jumbo egg (63 grams): 8.2 grams of protein
While the egg whites are mainly formed of proteins, it’s still important to eat the yolk, as this is where many healthy fats and up to half of the overall protein content of the egg.
Quinoa
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Looking for a good plant based form of protein? You’ll be able to find this by eating quinoa. This grain contains an impressive eight grams of protein in every cupful serving. Nowadays, it’s available in the majority of supermarkets thanks to increased demand, so you don’t have to worry about ordering it online or heading to specialist stores. Try cooking quinoa into different dishes to incorporate it into your meals multiple times a week.
As you can see, protein really is essential to leading a healthy lifestyle and there are plenty of exciting ways to incorporate it into your diet. Hopefully, some of the advice above should help to get the ball rolling and you’ll be hitting your recommended protein intake before you know it!
Read more health articles at ClichéMag.com
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