Before you start reading, let me just mention that I am not a nutrition expert.  I am merely an enthusiast of good health and the healthy journey part of my blog documents my findings to help improve the health and well-being of my family.  I share them in here as I know there are plenty of others similar to me who have an interest in this area through necessity or curiosity but haven’t the time to do just as much ‘googling’ on this topic.

So, Let’s take a quick look at some things we think we should know but might not?! My reason for going to the basics with this is because when the compound effect multiplies our efforts which are naturally best intended (but not always in the right direction,) we can end up a very different place / weight than we deserve for our efforts! So todays blog is about protein.

Why do we need it, what does it do, and what foods can we find it in!

Protein makes every cell in our bodies, it helps build nails, hair, bones and muscle.  The basic structure of protein is a chain of amino acids, so you need protein in your diet to help your body repair cells and make new ones.

One link with weight loss – eating more protein helps suppress hunger and appetite for longer than eating the same amounts of other macros (fats and carbs). Bear in mind though that eating too much will lead to weight gain! Sigh!

How to know if you aren’t consuming enough protein in your diet… you may experience muscle cramps, weakness, soreness. This is because your body will take protein from muscle tissue and use it as energy to support its vital body functions when protein is low.

What foods contain protein…. lean meat and poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, veg, beans, milk, yoghurt, cheese etc.

If you’d like to take this one step further, you could identify which foods form protein in your regular weekly meals and if you fine that there aren’t many, just make an adjustment by adding more!