You may have heard that too. A prerequisite for successful weight loss is that the person receives enough protein. This is especially true in the case of middle-aged women. But what are the best sources and how much protein do we need?
Scientists have been clear for some years now. Eating large amounts of protein speeds up metabolism, reduces appetite, and also affects the production of some hormones that may or may not affect weight gain.
But beware, eating more protein alone is not enough. To build muscle mass and lose fat, it is essential to move a lot. If you focus only on eating high protein, you can also cause kidney damage.
Start Gradually
However, according to nutritionist Pavel Suchanik, for example, women in their 40s or 50s tend to be protein deficient, so they need to focus on getting more in their diet. A healthy person should eat 0.8-1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of ideal body weight per day, Suchánek recommends 1.7 grams to lose weight, and even more in exceptional cases of great physical exertion, but this does not really apply to people who follow a regular diet. .
It is important to increase your protein intake gradually, not to do it in leaps and bounds from one day to the next. It’s also a good idea to spread your intake out throughout the day, without trying to catch up with everything at dinner. In this way, the body will make the best use of it. In practical terms, this means that protein should be a part of every meal you eat. It also makes sense that it will keep you full longer, so an apple with a piece of cheese is a better snack than fruit alone. It is ideal for alternating protein sources: you can have yogurt or cottage cheese for breakfast, lean meat or fish for lunch, and eggs or legumes for dinner.
The Best Sources Of Protein
Reliable sources of protein are lean meats, which contain about twenty percent protein, as well as eggs, milk, and dairy products: cottage cheese has the highest protein content, also about 20 percent, as well as cottage cheese, sugar and Greek yogurt, but be careful with the content of these fats. Then also legumes, in which the protein content is around 20 to 25 percent, but after cooking and water retention, the protein proportion is less. Nuts, seeds, and grains contain 10 to 15 percent protein, but they also contain more fat. Amaranth and quinoa also contain a relatively high amount of protein.
Examples of specific ingredients Amount of protein in 100 grams
- Pork from 17 to 20 g (lean meat contains more)
- Veal 21 to 23 g
- Turkey thighs 18 gr
- Turkey breast 24g
- Skinless chicken thighs 20 grams
- Chicken breast 23 g
- carp 17g
- Cod 19g
- salmon 19g
- Trout 21g
- Tuna 22g
- Classic white yogurt 4 grams
- Sky 11g
- Cottage cheese 12 g
- White Greek Yogurt 14g
- Cottage cheese 11 g
- Mozzarella 17 g
- Olomouc cottage cheese 28g
- Emmental 29g
- Quality 30g
- Chicken eggs 12 g
- Soy sauce 35gr
- Tofu 14g
- Seitan 18 grams
- Tempeh 19g
- Chickpeas 20g
- Peas 22g
- Classic 23g lens
- Red lentils 25 g
- Plush 14g
- Quinoa 15g
However, keep in mind that not everything that is intended to replace meat is at the same time a strict diet. One hundred grams of soybean tofu contains about 470 kilojoules, smoked about 600 kilojoules, and fresh tempeh about 700 kilojoules. Smoked or fried it is already around 1400kJ, so be careful with it. In terms of calories, there is no fundamental difference compared to, for example, steak.
They Are The Best Straight From The Food.
When it comes to influencing weight loss, according to experts, it’s better to get enough protein from your diet rather than relying on supplements.
According to a study by the American Dietetic Association, nutritional supplements such as protein shakes can prevent hunger in the same way as adequate protein intake directly from the diet, but people who got enough directly from food lost more weight overall and in the long term. They also maintained their new lower weight better.
