I was told for years by friends who were gym buffs “get that protein in” and I’d always reply I eat chicken… “that’s not enough” they’d always threw back at me and I never really understood why. What is protein and why is it so important?
As things are now I can’t walk down an aisle in Tesco’s without seeing a Protein alternative to childhood favs, ‘Protein Mars’ or ‘High Protein Shreddies’ it’s almost as though Protein has become the word in health… but why? And why would I advise clients to be on a ‘high protein diet’.
Most if not all the people who contact me for help are looking for one of two things, weight loss or muscle gain and both are aided with a high protein diet.
For weight loss Protein has what’s called a high thermogenic effect which basically means your body needs to use more energy to heat it up and burn through it whilst in your body. Ever had meat sweats after a mixed grill or a carvery, that’s thermogenesis. Your body is literally heating up to work through the food you’ve just consumed, cool right! Also, you get a lot of bang for your buck with protein and per 1g equals 4 calories compared to fats which per 1g equals 9 calories which means more food! 😉 Goooood! Protein is also high is something called satiety which is how boffins in white coats judge how filling something is. So protein burns more calories to consume, allows you to eat more and is more filling and if you ask me that’s perfect for weight loss!
For muscle gain, it’s a little more complicated and comes with certain timing requirements but it’s summed up by something you probably haven’t heard of since year 10 Chemistry, nitrogen. Along with other things like amino acids the level of Nitrogen in your body determines tissue growth or tissue loss. But why am I talking about Nitrogen when I’m rambling about Protein? Well Nitrogen can only be found in protein sources and though our body will happily burn through it, it can not create it itself, it needs to be ingested. By being in a positive balance we grow, but a negative one will mean losing tissue and usually, that’ll be the most expensive tissue in the human body, muscle!
It also helps with many other things, connective tissue, hormones, feeding your brain (literally). Ideally, if you can aim for 1.5g per kilo of body weight you won’t go far wrong.
