Is your protein intake adequate? While you should limit your calorie, sugar, and salt intake, you should also ensure that you get enough protein. It is required for the formation and upkeep of all cells in our bodies. It gives our body energy and fuels our cells. Protein should be absorbed every day. Every day protein consumption helps to keep your cells healthy and should be included in your daily health maintenance plan.
Some tips for consuming healthy protein foods everyday:
- Try a meatless Monday or more: Plant-based protein and fat diets can be beneficial to your health, so incorporate some vegetarian proteins into your meals. Going meatless can benefit your wallet as well as your health because beans, nuts, seeds, and other minimally processed vegetarian protein sources are frequently less expensive than meat. Eating plant protein instead of meat benefits the environment as well. Going meatless could help reduce pollution and have the potential to reduce climate change because raising and processing animals for meat requires a lot of energy.
- Eat soy in moderation: Tofu and other soy products are excellent substitutes for red meat. We don’t recommend changing the fact that tofu and soy foods are protein staples in some cultures. There’s no reason to start eating soy now if you didn’t grow up eating a lot of it. Also avoid supplements containing concentrated soy protein or extracts, such as isoflavones, because their long-term effects are unknown.
- Shift the balance of carbs and protein: Reducing your intake of highly processed carbohydrates and increasing your protein intake improves triglyceride and protective high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels, potentially lowering your chances of getting a heart attack, blood clot, or another form of cardiovascular disease. This modification may also make you feel fuller for longer periods of time, preventing hunger pangs.
- Upgrade the protein on your plate: The Healthy Eating Plate encourages you to substitute protein-rich foods like beans, nuts, tofu, fish, chicken, or eggs for less-healthy options like red and processed meats. Rather than a typical beef burger, seek a turkey or black bean burger. Alternatively, instead of using processed high-sodium lunch meat, make your sandwich with fresh-roasted chicken breast or salmon.
- Don’t stress too much about protein quantity: Most reasonable diets provide plenty of protein for healthy people. Eating a variety of protein-rich foods throughout the day, such as an egg for breakfast, turkey or beans on your salad for lunch, and salmon or tofu with a whole grain side dish for dinner, will ensure that you are getting enough protein and protein building blocks (amino acids). Instead of expensive protein shakes or powders, which can be high in sugar or other additives, opt for higher-protein foods.
