Protein: 5 Reasons Why You Should Include More Of It In Your Diet

5 Reasons Why You Should Include More Protein In Your Diet

If there is only 1 nutrition advice for those who want to lose or maintain their weight that I can give and strongly advocate, it is to always, ALWAYS include protein in your meals.

You can call me Miss Protein.

Doesn't matter if it is breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, or snack. Always, I repeat, ALWAYS include protein.

Why?

These are 5 reasons why you should include more protein in your meals. 

1. It Is An Important Macronutrient

Besides carbs and fat that is. Protein is not only for muscles, it is way more than that. 

Protein is a building block for our body so our organs, tissues, joints, hair, skin & nails are dependent on protein. 

It also helps to regulate our hormones, antibodies & enzymes.

We need more protein when we are recovering from exercise, sickness, injury, or post-surgery because our body needs protein for recovery and repair. 

2. It Boosts Your Metabolism

Did you know that there is some food that can boost our metabolism?

When we eat, our body uses energy to digest and use the nutrients from food. This is known as the thermic effect of food (TEF).

Protein has higher TEF compared to fat & carbs.

Eating food with higher TEF means our body will use more energy to digest it. So technically, it helps you to burn more calories in a day.

Now isn't that great news?

3. It Helps To Control Appetite and Hunger

Protein is by far the most filling macronutrient.

In a less sciency language, it means that eating protein makes you feel more full even if you are eating less food.

Not only that, but you also feel full for longer!

This is to do with protein's effect on our hunger hormone ghrelin & peptide YY that regulates appetite. 

When you include protein in your breakfast, for example, you will notice that you can sustain until lunchtime without needing to snack in between meals.

4. It Improves Satiety And Helps Control Cravings

What do we usually crave?

Nobody, I mean absolutely nobody in this world craves lettuce.

Most of the time, we crave sugary and fatty food, right?

Satiety is that satisfied feeling after a meal. So when you are satiated, you will less likely to experience cravings. 

A study among overweight men reported that increasing protein to 25% of calories reduced cravings by 60% and the desire to snack at night by 50% (1)

This effect of protein on managing cravings is most likely to do with its effect on dopamine, one of the main hormones responsible for cravings and addiction. 

5. It Maintains Our Muscle Mass

When we embark on an extremely restrictive diet, our body loses its mass in this order: water, muscle, and fat.

We don't want that!

It is counterproductive to be losing muscle because muscle is metabolically active tissue. It helps our body to burn more calories, keeps our body lean & toned. It is important for our movement and strength. 

Protein is food for our muscles. So it's important to provide our muscle with protein, not only to help in its recovery and growth but also to reduce muscle breakdown commonly seen in dieters.

Now your next question might be what kind of food should I take?

Easy peasy. Here are some examples of how you can include more protein in your meals

Breakfast: Include eggs in your breakfast. I like mine soft boiled.

Lunch & Dinner: We Malaysians loved our mixed rice. Our protein choice is plenty! Include chicken/ meat/ fish/ eggs/ tofu/ tempeh in your mixed rice.

Well if you need to snack, snack on a boiled egg. Or veggie with hummus dip. I would say be careful with nuts though as nuts are higher calorie & not easy to control portions.

Anyway, just eat more eggs. What's not to love about eggs?

It's cheap, yummy, versatile, convenient, and most importantly nutritious. 

On days that I know I don't get enough protein, I rely on protein powders. It's so convenient and definitely high protein.