THE POWER OF PROTEIN 💪🏻🍗🥩🍖
High Protein, Low Carbohydrate diets are the newest diet fad, where people are dropping their carbohydrates to extremely low levels and nearly doubling their protein intakes in hopes of losing weight. People are drinking copious amounts of protein shakes or bars and staying away from pasta, rice and potatoes, foods that offer plenty of complex carbohydrates to supply us with the energy we need for the day. ⚡️
Now will this diet help you lose weight? Sure, but once you jump off it and increase your carbohydrates again, that weight will come creeping back as your body tries to store as much glycogen as possible. There are much better ways to lose weight while still being able to enjoy all the carbs you need 🤤🍝
Let’s talk about the wonders of protein.
Protein is an important component of every cell in the body. Your hair and nails are mostly made of protein. Your body uses protein to build and repair tissues. You also use protein to make enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals. Protein is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin and blood cells.
Along with fat and carbohydrates, protein is a “macronutrient,” meaning that the body needs relatively large amounts of it. Vitamins and minerals, which are needed in only small quantities, are called “micronutrients.” But unlike fat and carbohydrates, the body does not store protein, and therefore has no reservoir to draw on when it needs a new supply. 😯
A high protein intake boosts metabolism, reduces appetite and changes several weight-regulating hormones. Increasing your protein intake by a certain amount can help suppress the cravings many get when they have the urge to snack constantly. Higher protein foods are also great as they contain less calories than foods high in carbohydrates or fats. 👌🏻
Now this is gonna be a suprise to a lot of people but it’s a proven fact! About 20-30% of protein calories are burned while the body is digesting and metabolizing the protein. This is known as the thermic effect where some calories of the food consumed are used in the breakdown and metabolising of the food. Protein has a much higher thermic effect (20-30%) compared to carbs (5-10%) and fat (0-3%). So from every 100 calories consumed, they end up as 70 calories after digestion. 😯
Eating a high-protein diet can cause weight loss, even without calorie counting, portion control or carb restriction. A modest increase in protein intake can also help prevent weight regain. Eating plenty of protein can also help prevent muscle loss when you lose weight. It can also help keep your metabolic rate high, especially when combined with heavy strength training.
In order to lose weight, aiming for 25-35% of calories as protein may be optimal. 30% of calories amounts to 150 grams of protein on a 2000 calorie diet. Some of you may be looking at that number and thinking it’s gonna be hard to reach that daily, but you couldn’t be more wrong! Foods like chicken, cod and turkey boast a much as 30g of protein in a fillet/breast. Another great asset to reaching your protein intake is protein supplements! Most offer anywhere between 25-30g a serving, with some even offering up to 40g! 😯
Overall, protein can be your best friend when it comes to either losing weight or packing on some lean muscle! 💪🏻😍
