It’s Mean, It’s Lean, It’s Protein

You see it everywhere.

It’s poking around your back yard. It’s treading through your local lake. It’s floating through the sky above you.

It swims. It walks. It crawls. It flies.

It’s your protein source.

Protein is hardly a secret in the fitness world. While most of what you eat is generally from sources of carbohydrates, at least a quarter of your daily calorific intake should come from protein.

Otherwise you’ll simply make no progress.

I see too many dieters go on low-fat diets that deprive their bodies of much-needed protein. Come on people – it’s a no-brainer: if your body’s not getting the protein it needs externally it’ll be forced to get it internally.

By cannibalising your hard-won muscle.

So how much protein should you be taking in? Figures vary but the majority of nutritionists recommend the following:

• to maintain muscle – 0.4g protein / lb of bodyweight
• to build muscle – 0.8g protein / lb of bodyweight

Note that excessive intake of protein (>1g protein / lb of bodyweight) can’t be used or stored by your body. Some studies even claim it can be detrimental to your health!

So now we know how much protein we need. Next question – where can we get it?

• CHICKEN BREAST: One of the most common sources of protein & for good reason too. It’s low in fat but remember to cut off any skin & go easy on the fattening seasonings. Honey mustard is a great way to add some taste. Cook in olive oil or – for melt-in-the-mouth tenderness – try milk. The average chicken breast has 35g of protein

• EGGS: Egg whites are tremendous in delivering the proteins you need. Be sure to remove the yolk first (it’s loaded with cholesterol). There are approximately 4g of protein in each egg white so you can load up on them throughout the day. Also egg whites are fat free!

• TUNA: Sparkle up your protein diet with Sparky himself. As long as you’re not mixing it with that fattening mayonnaise, tuna is an excellent dietary food that will provide you with the protein you need. There’s approximately 25g of protein in a can of low-fat tuna

And of course if remembering all that seems too difficult (or like me you just hate cooking), try looking into commercial protein powders. But then they’re a minefield in themselves so maybe I’d better leave them for another article…