3 Reasons you should be eating more protein
Protein, protein, protein. You are probably a little bored of us hyping on about protein but there is reason why we do this. While we all know that it is beneficial in helping us to build muscle this isn’t the only reason why we are always telling you to increase your protein intake (although that should be enough given that maintaining and building muscle is pretty much the only real fountain of youth).
Below we list 3 reasons you should be eating more protein you might not know.
Out of the 3 macronutrients protein is the most filling/ satiating. This is partly because protein helps reduce your levels of ghrelin the hunger hormone. It also boosts the level of PYY a hormone that helps you feel full. It is the perfect addition to your diet, as it will help prevent muscle catabolism but will also help you feel full even when on less calories. These effects on appetite can be powerful. In one study, increasing protein intake from 15% to 30% of calories made overweight women eat 441 fewer calories each day without intentionally restricting anything.
It’s good for your bones: People who eat more protein tend to maintain bone mass better as they age and have a much lower risk of osteoporosis and fractures. This is especially important for women, who are at high risk of osteoporosis after menopause. Eating plenty of protein in combination with resistance training is the ideal combination.
Slows any weight loss plateau. We all know that when we diet we eventually reach that dreaded plateau where our weight loss stalls despite being on lower calories. Well, making sure we hold onto as much muscle as possible in our diet is key to preventing this metabolic adaptation happening quickly and to do this we need to make sure we are eating enough protein. On top of that protein actually has a higher thermic effect of food, which roughly translates to we burn more energy to get the energy out of protein so it is a brilliant food in a diet as it helps to increase calorie expenditure.
Love these tips? Want to know more? Well you are in luck, we have just launched our ‘Nutrition for Women’ course!
In this short course we will take you step by step, through the menstrual cycle and how best to support it with nutrition. In this course, you will also receive your unique calorie & macro breakdown specific to you and your goals!