Are you considering following a protein diet? Then you have come to the right place, because here we explain everything you need to know about these food plans.
What is it, what is it for, what foods are allowed, and what is not and what drawbacks it has. Below we try to answer these questions to help you make a decision.
Contents
What is the protein diet?
You’ve probably heard of diets like Atkins or the Zone Diet. Well, both are examples of a protein diet. As the name suggests, proteins play the main role. As for its purpose, many people adopt it because they want to lose weight.
Proteins are essential in food. Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t go without them for many reasons. It’s a fact. Men need at least about 60 grams of protein daily (more if you play sports), but protein diets go further, inviting to far exceed the recommended daily amount of protein.
You can get extra protein through meat, but you don’t have to focus solely on it, but share the work of providing protein among various food groups. As you know, legumes, nuts, grains, eggs, cheese and seafood can also provide you with this nutrient.
How to Get More Protein
Check out the article: Protein Foods. There you will find plenty of food options that will help you increase the protein of your diet, both animals and vegetables.
Protein diets and results in your body
Naturally, the type of food plan we are dealing with this time entails a reduction in non-protein foods, since there is no room for everyone. This way, if you are designing a protein diet, you may have to eat less carbohydrates, fruits, and vegetables than until now. And that’s where the key is, as cutting carbohydrates helps the body use fat accumulations as fuel. This entails a weight loss and an increase in muscle mass when combined with exercise.
And it is that experts warn that eating more protein is not enough to gain muscle. You will also have to have a balanced diet, in which fruit and vegetables are not missing, as well as practice regular exercise, especially strength training.
Finally, for the results to be more noticeable, it is necessary to choose lean meats, which provide the same proteins in exchange for less fat. In fact, gram per gram, lean red meat has somewhat more saturated fat than white without skin, but much less when compared to ultra-fat meat. And when you buy dairy, look for low-fat or fat-free varieties that help you keep calories under control.
Where are the proteins taken from?
Mainly meat, so if you’re a vegetarian, vegan or just trying to consume as little animal food as possible, you may be well considering another strategy to achieve your body goals. There are many other plans that can help you that do not include meat, or at least not in as large quantities as the diet we are dealing with this occasion.
White meat is less fat than red, as you may already know, but when chicken or turkey appears on your protein diet menu, remove the skin. Your nutritionist will advise you almost safely as this part contains saturated fat and, in order for any protein diet to be effective, there is an important requirement – to reduce the presence of fats.
You can include both white meat and red meat. Although you tend to think that red meat is bad, it really all depends on the cut. If you choose a clean cut of red meat, you can get the proteins you’re looking for without being accompanied by too much fat.
And what happens to fish? Fish is also meat and provides protein, so it’s an important part of the plan. In addition, many fish are low-fat, and those that are not, such as salmon or tuna, continue to be interesting because of their content in omega 3 fatty acids. These healthy fats are beneficial to your body, including the heart, so fish is a great choice for the protein diet.
Let’s look at all the options that can help you get that extra amount of protein needed in a protein diet:
- White meat
- Red meat
- Fish
- Eggs
- Soy
- Legumes
- Dairy
Do not neglect fiber
But a lot of eye with the lack of fiber, which, as you know, can cause you a lot of problems (including constipation). To fix this, you need to make sure that your protein diet includes enough vegetables, which will provide you with fiber and other important substances for the proper functioning of the body. That’s the case of carbohydrates.
You will recognize a quality protein diet because it does not completely do without this nutrient. Whole grains are always essential, but in these diets more. Since they eat less, it is important that they be one of the good ones.
