BUILD YOUR HEALTH EATING MORE PROTEIN

I’ve been wanting to write a blog post about protein for a while. Because…..

Many Americans don’t eat enough protein.

Before we dive in to this matter, let’s define proteins:

Complete protein is found for the most part in animal-based foods. For example; beef, pork, chicken, fish, eggs, are animal proteins. Dairy products also contain animal protein.

The trick is: ideally, the proteins from animal sources that we’re ought to consume every day are lean proteins, or proteins with low saturated fat content (we’ll talk more about saturated fat in another post). Examples of lean proteins are lean beef (you can find lean ground meat in many supermarkets, where the label will say 93% or 97% lean beef, or bison), turkey, chicken breast, pork tenderloin, baked fish, hardboiled eggs (or fried or scrambled eggs with no added oil).

Vegetarian sources of complete protein aren’t many, but a couple of good examples are quinoa and soybeans. Incomplete sources of protein would include any kind of beans, lentils, chickpeas. You can get high-quality protein just like in meat, from vegetarian sources, when combining brown or wild rice with any of these. 

Complete proteins are proteins with all 9 essential amino acids (amino acids that aren’t produced in our bodies, must come from diet). Grains such as rice lack one of these amino acids (lysine), and beans also lack one of the essential amino acids (methionine). This is why when combined, wild or brown rice and beans (or lentils, or chickpeas) would provide all 9 essential amino acids together, and act as complete protein in our diet (diet here means the way you currently and routinely eat). 

Many Americans also complain they have difficulty losing weight. This is most likely due to the low protein content in their diet, because protein provides satiety, or makes us feel full. A healthy person, without health conditions (especially without kidney conditions), can eat protein without restrictions. The recommended amount of protein for a healthy adult individual is about 0.8-1.1 g/kg(grams per kilogram of body weight), depending on whether there’s acute (intense, temporary) disease state. For people in the hospital, we recommend at least 1.1 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. If there has been a surgery, at least 1.2 g of protein per kilogram of body weight (it also depends on the patient’s other issues and nutrition is always individualized). To give you a general idea, the protein recommendation for a person weighing 80 kg would be 80 to 88 grams of lean protein per day.  To give you further idea of the amount of protein in foods, a whole egg will provide about 7 grams; a good protein drink will provide about 25 grams (check the previous blog post and this post here), a medium salmon fillet will provide 20 to 25 grams of protein, and a can or tuna will provide a whooping 40-45 grams of protein! (check my tuna salad post here).

Therefore, if you’re trying to lose weight, strive to have more LEAN protein in your diet. Add protein to your breakfast as well. You’ll feel more satiety and balanced blood sugars throughout the day, and you’ll be less likely to over-snack or over-eat later in the day.

If you’d like, visit this link and download the 5-day protein menu for diabetes and weight loss. There are many examples of lean protein in this meal plan.

Again, visit the link to download the diabetes and weight loss meal plan here!

Talk soon :)

Girlene