What are good ways to consume adequate amounts of protein?
It's known that our body needs proteins to repair cells, make new ones, and even uses it to build tissue and regulate hormones. Whether male, or female, in your 20's or 60's, our body needs proteins to work properly. With a large amount of protein helping power our body and keeps us healthy, how can you get an even more adequate amount?.
Answers ( 2 )
seafood
lean meats and poultry
eggs
legumes, which include beans and peas
nuts
seeds
soy products
Dairy products, such as milk, cheese, and yogurt, also contain protein. Whole grains and vegetables contain some protein, but generally less than other sources.
The most important factor about how you consume protein is that you get enough variety to ensure complete protein nutrition. That means you need to get all of the important amino acids in high enough quantity to supply your body's needs. As such, you should avoid getting all (or most) of your protein from any one (or few sources). Instead, try to eat as many different protein-containing foods as you can. And make sure that the foods you're eating them in aren't all supplying other nutrients (such as fat and carbohydrates) in such large quantities that they throw off the overall balance of your intake. In terms of total intake, most people will only need about 7 grams per 20 pounds of body weight. So somewhere between 35 and 85 grams per day. That's really not that hard to do if you even vaguely try. The variety of sources is the harder part to keep up.
Some great protein sources are:
- Lean meats. Despite perceptions to the contrary, many supposedly fatty meats can also be lean, depending on the cut. So don't hesitate to eat beef, lamb, veal, pork, venison, emu, ostrich, bison, and even kangaroo. Yeah, I guess I could list emu and ostrich under "poultry" below, but the flesh is more similar to the meats listed here.
- Poultry – Chicken, turkey, duck, goose, squab, and any others you can find.
Fish and seafood. This includes actual fin fish, as well as shellfish such as clams, mussels, scallops, shrimp, prawns, crab, lobster, oysters, etc.
- Eggs. All kinds of eggs. Chicken are the most common, but duck, quail, goose, etc are all good.
- Dairy products. Milk and other dairy products provide some of the best quality and most complete protein sources available. Fluid milk, yogurt, and cheese are all excellent protein sources.
nuts (including nut pastes) and seeds – almonds, pine nuts, walnuts, macadamias, hazelnuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds
- Legumes and beans. Pretty much all legumes and beans are good protein sources. Watch out for those that are very high in fat (such as peanuts), and make sure to have them in moderation, but don't let that stop you from using them as part of your varied diet.
- Soy. Yes, I already mentioned legumes and beans, but soy is useful enough that it gets its own callout. There are many ways to eat soy products, and all of them are pretty good protein sources. Some examples are tofu, textured soy protein (used in many fake meats), edamame, soy milk, soy nuts, tempeh, and more.
- Nuts. Nuts are a great source of protein, but also tend to be high in fat. So while they make a good supplemental way of getting protein, chances are you don't want to depend on them as your primary source. Still, nuts like almonds, cashews, macadamias, and pecans can all be part of a healthy protein-rich diet.