Protein, is it really that important?
Yes! Proteins are one of the essential building blocks that help build and repair our body tissues, such as bones, skin, blood and muscles. They make enzymes, hormones and the antibodies of the immune system. Amino acids (AAs) are compounds that when combined, form proteins. Our bodies need 20 different AAs for our health and normal functioning, 9 of which are essential AAs, meaning our bodies cannot make them, we can only obtain them from food.
So how much protein should we be eating? The recommendation is to go for 0.8-1g x your body weight. I.e. if you weigh 55kg, you would aim for 44g of protein per day. Remember this doesn’t mean eating e.g. 44g of chicken, it means 44g of protein (for example, in 100g of chicken breast there is only 31g of protein). If you are pregnant you should be consuming around 10g of protein per day above this amount. If you are breast feeding, add 20g more per day! If you are an athlete, or engage in regular sports you should certainly be consuming more protein too.
Adding protein to ALL meals (yes, including breakfast), is a great way to make sure you are properly satiated (full). Proteins are broken down slowly, meaning they keep you fuller for longer compared to simple sugars/carbs (e.g. white pasta). This means that they also help regulate your blood sugar, meaning you won’t get dramatic peaks and crashes in energy. If you are someone that always gets a dip in energy alongside feeling hungry for a naughty snack at around 3pm then this is a sign that you are not regulating your blood sugar properly, and adding protein to your lunch would be a good idea.
Try and opt for plant based sources of protein as often as possible - unlike in meat, plant based protein come with a huge amount of other benefits too, for example legumes like lentils and chickpeas are phytoestrogens, meaning they help regulate your hormones. Plus they are full of fibre helping feed your gut bacteria, and regulating your stools.
Most people find breakfast the hardest meal to add protein to so here are some breakfast ideas that contain adequate protein:
Egg on brown toast with avocado and spinach - protein, plus fibre from the brown toast, healthy fats from the avocado + eggs and lots of vitamins from the spinach.
Porridge with nut milk/butter with some nuts and seeds on top (which will also add some healthy fats and minerals too), or even better, go for millet porridge which is a high protein grain.
Overnight oats with almond butter, chia + hemp seeds, raw almonds, shredded coconut, blueberries
Smoothie made with nut butter, nut milk, seeds, nuts, banana, avocado, spinach and coconut
Greek yogurt with berries, nuts and seeds
Protein snack ideas:
Protein balls made from raw cacao, almond butter, dates and coconut oil - deliciously Ella do some great ones
Rice cakes topped with nut butter + banana + honey
Hummus or nut butter + vegetables for dipping
Protein food ideas and rough amounts:
Avocado with a poached egg - 7g
Avocado + humus - 2.5g
Peanut butter (sugar free real stuff, no Skippy!) on toast - 8g
Porridge (depending on oat kind) + nuts/seeds or a nut butter - 4g
A handful of nuts/nut butters - 3g
Lentils cup cooked - 16.2g
Quinoa (my favourite as its a complete protein, full of fibre, vitamins and nutrients and is a complex carb!), cup cooked - 8g
Beef (fillet steak) - 22g
Chicken breast - 40g
Edamame cup cooked - 18.5g
Chickpeas cup cooked - 14.7g
Kidney beans cup cooked - 14g
Amaranth cup cooked - 9g
Black beans cup cooked - 16g
Hemp seeds - 3g per tablespoon
Soybeans cup cooked - 31.3g
Almonds (raw) 6g per 1/4 cup
Seitan - 21g per 1/3 cup
Tempeh cup cooked - 33.7g
Pumpkin seeds - 8g per 1/4 cup
Chia seeds 1.6g per tablespoon
…so its about adding bits together to make up that total amount for you!