The Wonders of Protein

If you have performed any sort of research on bodybuilding or weight loss so far, we’re almost certain that you will have come across protein.

In truth, everyone comes across it as it’s contained within the vast majority of foods. However, most people in the midst of a fitness journey will make it their priority to obtain huge amounts of it – as it can work wonders when used properly.

Nevertheless, there are some misconceptions that surround protein and its use. It’s for this reason that this chapter has been put together, as we take a look at the food type in more detail.

The benefits of protein

Let’s start with the tangible benefits that protein brings.

Most people look at protein from a pure muscle-building perspective. In other words, they think that it’s just designed for the enormous guys who are looking to pile on as much muscle as possible. While this is true to an extent, let’s not forget about some of the other benefits.

Something that a lot of people don’t realize is that it can help curb your appetite. It’s advisable to invest in a high-protein breakfast for this reason, as the chances of you snacking later during the morning immediately decline.

This is in contrast to the sugary breakfasts that a lot of people might turn to, which may provide that initial spike – but also provide that disastrous comedown which makes you reach for the cookie jar at the earliest opportunity.

In short, protein can also balance out your blood sugar levels and prevent the above from happening.

There’s another key benefit as well in relation to your metabolism. By eating a diet that is high in protein, your metabolism will immediately speed up. This means that your body runs much faster, burning more calories in the process, and this is obviously significant from a weight loss perspective. We’ll move onto this in detail slightly later.

Finally, we breached the topic of protein for muscle building, but let’s hone in on muscle recovery specifically. This is kind of interlinked; by eating more protein, your muscles will recover more quickly.

Not only does this mean that they develop faster, but it can also minimize the risk of muscle soreness. The upshot is that you can jump out of bed the next morning and hit the gym without feeling any ill-effects from the previous day.

How protein aids with fat loss

We may have touched on this in the previous section, but due to all of the misconceptions that arrive with protein it’s worth looking at the subject again. How exactly is protein going to help you burn fat? We’ve already spoken about the metabolism-factor, as well as suppressing your appetite, but let’s now turn to the science.

There’s a general dietary consensus when it comes to weight loss, and that surrounds the concept that you need to eat less – of everything. A lot of people think this means all foods, but the same certainly doesn’t apply to protein.

When you start to consume fewer calories, your body immediately has less energy to tap into. This then means that it will turn to protein as a food source, which is exactly what you don’t want. If this occurs, it will start taking away protein from its primary job of building your lean muscle mass (and ultimately, making your body look a lot better).

This means that you need to guard against this by continuously eating more protein; meaning that your body has sufficient supplies as both a food source and as a source to build those muscles we all crave.

What foods contain protein?

One of the biggest misconceptions is that meats are the only type of food that contains protein. This would obviously be a major problem if you were vegetarian but fortunately, this isn’t the case.

While the likes of chicken, beef and fish are some of the best sources of complete protein, as they contain a complete array of essential amino acids, there are alternatives.

Eggs, cheese and milk are all viable alternatives and contain large amounts of protein, while for the vegans out there you can quite comfortably turn to nuts, whole grains and beans. As we have highlighted throughout this chapter, it’s all about the nutritional statistics – and many of these foods are comparable against the meat alternatives.

A summary on protein

As you can see, the benefits of protein from both a bodybuilding and fat loss perspective cannot be disputed. It’s the king of foods, and rightly needs to be incorporated into your daily diet. Start it out with breakfast to supercharge your body, before proceeding to incorporate into every other meal – as well as snacks.

In terms of specific figures, the general advice is to consume about 0.8g of protein for every pound of your bodyweight. It’s hopefully at this stage you can understand just how much you need to add it to your diet.