Healthy Foods Part 4: Proteins

The Reasons Why Protein Should Be On Your Food List!

Proteins should be a staple part of everybody’s diet but most people are too concerned with tracking the calorie count or fat content to bother with the protein content. Protein is the substance in food that helps to build muscles and repairs them if they are damaged. It is also an alternative source of energy, along with fats and carbohydrates. Everyone needs protein to be able to move about, but athletes have to take on extra protein to boost their energy levels as well as maintain muscles.

The main food sources of protein are red meats, fish, chicken, eggs, beans and nuts. If you happen to be a vegetarian then tofu is also packed full of protein. Health professionals and dieticians recommend eating two or three servings of protein a day to make sure that the body tissues remain healthy.

You would think that protein would actually make you pt on weight, but that isn’t always the case. If you eat too much protein then you may put on weight as a result of that, but if you stick to the daily recommended amount then you won’t. After all, think of all of the protein based diets that are out there and very popular at the moment. That is because people see results when they go on a protein diet and can lose a lot of weight.

The main reason why protein is great for weight loss is because it has been proved to suppress the appetite. Eating protein can make you feel very full, more so than eating foods out of any other group, and as a result of that, you can lose weight. After all, if you don’t feel hungry then you’re less likely to snack between meals. This will then decrease your calorie intake. You can eat less but feel just as satisfied after a meal and lose weight!

Protein also digests slowly so you have a constant release of energy throughout the day. Slow releasing foods not only make you feel full, but also make you feel less tired. Some simple carbohydrates release their energy very quickly and can leave you feeling tired later on. When this happens, your body will make you feel hungry because it needs another dose of energy, but proteins will keep you feeling energetic all day! No snacking equals losing weight!

Proteins also contain amino acids, which can help you to lose weight. Amino acids transport energy to your muscles so that it is used up and not stored as fat. Without amino acids, the energy has to find another way to get to your muscles, and that usually means that you don’t burn off enough energy to lose weight.

If you want to lose weight, you could do far worse than eat protein. It has so many benefits and very few negative features when it comes to dieting and getting healthy that it would be wrong to forget about it in your quest to count calories! Eat steak and chicken every day and watch the calories fall away!