These days, everyone’s looking to increase their protein intake, and with good reason. For senior citizens, higher-protein diets protect against muscle-wasting disorders like sarcopenia and help reduce fall risk. For those looking to increase muscle mass, a higher daily protein intake is essential. Then, there are those who struggle to feel full, and protein can also be a major help here.
No matter what your reason is for wanting to increase your protein intake, you’re likely a little confused about how to do it. After all, there are dozens of high-protein foods available, and figuring out which ones to add to your diet and how can be a challenge.
This article is here to help you out with that. Here’s how to increase your protein intake in a way that’s straightforward to implement.
Choose Healthy Animal Sources
Animal sources typically have the highest amount of quality protein for the lowest amount of calories, so you’ll want to prioritise them to hit your targets.
Foods like eggs, milk, lean meats like chicken and lean cuts of beef and fish are great options. Generally, it’s healthier to cook your meats by grilling or broiling rather than frying; as you can imagine, if you were to fry your food every time you needed a dose of protein, things could get highly calorific very quickly.
It’s also worth mentioning that because animal products are of higher quality, you’ll need a lower general protein intake than you would if you were on a strictly plant-based diet. This is because animal proteins have a greater number of essential amino acids and are more digestible.
Snack Strategically
Strategic snacks can be a big help if you’ve been struggling to hit your protein goals. You can use these between meals if you have a particularly high requirement or get hungry easily.
Whey protein shakes are a good choice, as whey is one of the highest-quality proteins around. You could also consider meat-based snacks, such as South African dried sausage or beef jerky.
Some people also choose to make their own – there are loads of recipes on YouTube you can check out.
Don’t Forget About Your Carbs
Many people don’t even bother counting plant proteins towards their protein goals, but that’s a serious mistake.
While protein from grains, legumes, and vegetable aren’t as high quality as most animal proteins, they absolutely count towards your daily protein goal. The best way to understand it is that plant proteins aren’t less effective; you just need a little more of them to get the same effect. 35g of protein from tofu may be required to build as much muscle as 20g of whey, for example.
Everything gets mixed together in the end, and your carbohydrates can ultimately account for a significant amount of extra muscle growth.
Wrapping Up
Hopefully, you’re now a little clearer on how to improve your protein intake and which foods you should focus on. You might have a little trouble getting to grips with things at first, but you’ll have it down before long. Good luck!
