10 Reasons to Eat More Protein
10 Reasons to Eat More Protein
If you want to be sharp throughout the day and have the energy to work at full steam and to go out and exercise after, you need to eat. And you need to eat protein. Lots of it.
Women over 45 should be eating a lot of protein, more than they used to. Active women generally don’t eat enough full stop, never mind enough protein.
You need it to make muscle.
It gives you energy through the day.
After exercise, a mix of protein and carbs, stops the body’s break down state. Eat within 30-40 minutes of finishing a hard session.
Helps reduce low mood and anxiety brought on by fluctuating or low hormones .
Helps avoid fractures. If you have muscle you’re not as likely to be frail and fall over. (You might think it doesn’t apply to you but 1 in 2 women have problems with osteoporosis in later life).
Keeps you feeling full for longer and reduces hunger hormones.
Avoids losing muscle mass when exercising intensely. (If you have protein circulating in your system when the body is looking for energy then it will take the protein swimming round and not from your muscles.)
Dampens the effect of carbs on blood sugar.
Boosts satiety hormone and reduces hunger hormones
10.It has a much higher thermic effect than fat/carbs. This means your body spends a lot of calories just digesting it. (Protein 20-30% of the calories are burned by the body in digesting them, carbs 5-10%, fats 0-3%). And it’s more difficult for the body to convert to fat if not used.
Women need more protein as they age (to make up for the lost estrogen). Estrogen is anabolic and drives muscle protein synthesis. There are two win-wins. First, more protein all round supports making muscle tissue and second, if you want to lose fat, then eating more protein is a good way to achieve body recomposition (more muscle mass, less body fat). It’s also been shown to help with low mood and anxiety brought on by peri menopause. The amino acids (protein blocks) cross the blood-brain barrier and attach on to the serotonin receptor sites. When estrogen drops, so does serotonin.
You should be aiming for 2.0-2.2g of protein per kg of body weight or 30% of your calories (give or take) should come from protein. For a 10 stone woman (64kg) that’s 128g of protein. It’s a lot. A large chicken breast is 40g. Split the protein as evenly across each meal: breakfast (cereal is pony for protein!), dinner and tea and you can add a protein snack in where needed.
Please don’t be put off by eating more. Your body isn’t stupid. The less you eat, the more your body adapts to meet what goes in. Quality counts and time extra protein and carbs around intense workouts. Avoid processed foods. If you want to make muscle and you’re lifting weights YOU NEED TO EAT!!
At mealtimes think about the protein element of your meal first. Then add the other stuff. For example, to ramp up your breakfast protein, consider having high protein Greek or Skyr yogurt, instead of milk, with your muesli, nuts and berries. For lunch think about lean protein: chicken, white fish, turkey and eat much more of it than a thin bit of decoration between bread! You can buy protein bagels now which gives you non-animal protein as well. Dinner, a good palm-sized portion is required. Snacks could be apple slices with peanut butter. A boiled egg. A handful of nuts.
Yes, your body can handle large amounts of it at once. No, lots of protein isn’t bad for your kidneys (unless you already have kidney disease).