One of the best foods for building, recovering, and strengthening muscles is protein. Aim for 0.8 to 1 grammes of protein per kilogram of body weight for the average adult (PDF). For instance, you should aim for between 55 and 68 grams of protein per day if you weigh 150 pounds (68 kilograms). Calculating your recommended daily protein intake by dividing the total number of meals you eat is one of the simplest methods to ensure you’re meeting your goals. That way you’ll be aware of the appropriate amount of protein for each meal.
Individuals who engage in physical activities, lift weights, play sports, or have demanding occupations can discover that eating more protein than the suggested minimum is beneficial to them. Eating additional protein can also help older adults, especially those who are at risk of developing sarcopenia, or age-related muscle loss. Use the US Department of Agriculture’s dietary reference consumption calculator to determine your protein requirements. You may also see what a daily intake of 100 grams of protein looks like with this visual guide.
Although the amount of grams of protein you need to consume on a daily basis may seem overwhelming, it is possible to meet this requirement with the correct plan and knowledge. Try these seven simple strategies to up your daily intake of grams of protein.
1. Establish A Routine For Protein
The saying “consistency is key” has gained widespread acceptance since it can be applied to almost any habit, whether it be one you want to develop, maintain, or break.
Attaching an action to another, or ritualizing things, can aid in consistency, which eventually results in habits. You may declare, “I’ll walk for 10 minutes after breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day,” for instance, if you’re aiming to walk more each day. That’s thirty more minutes of walking each day, all right.
In that sense, try ritualizing protein. Protein may therefore become a part of your daily routine if you choose to drink a protein shake or milk instead of milk every morning. A daily protein shake can quickly increase your total protein consumption, containing 20 to 40 grams of protein.
Shakes are another way to ritualize protein consumption after a workout. It may seem obvious, but believe me when I say that it’s easy to forget to drink your post-workout beverage if you tell yourself, “Well, I’ll drink it after dinner or after I shower.” Make it as soon as you finish your workout; if you drink it during your cool-down or post-workout stretches, it will quickly become a routine.
2. Start With Some Protein
When consuming protein-rich meals, aim to finish the majority of the protein before going on to the other foods, particularly the grains, which have a tendency to quickly fill you up. By starting with your protein source, you can make sure you finish it before becoming too full.
An extra benefit: Eating enough protein can help you achieve your health goals if you’re attempting to lose weight because it can make you feel fuller.
3. Add Chopped Nuts To The Top of Meals
Although they may not be the greatest source of protein by volume, eating nuts with your meals might help you get a nice protein boost.
Consider include chopped cashews (5.2 grams per serving) in stir-fries, chopped walnuts (4.3 grams protein per serving) in salads, chopped peanuts (6.7 grams per serving), or chopped almonds (six grams per serving) in porridge.
By including nuts in your meals, you’ll be improving your health in all areas. Nuts are high in protein, but they also have a lot of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
4. Select Less-fat Meats
Because leaner meats include less fat per serving, each serving of lean meat has more protein. If you regularly consume animal proteins, here’s one really simple way to increase your daily protein consumption.
Since protein promotes satiety and leaner meats contain less calories than fattier meats, this is a smart strategy for anyone attempting to reduce weight. The leanest beef cuts, per the Mayo Clinic, are:
- The best sirloin steak
- Best possible roast and steak
- Roast and steak on the bottom round
- Round roast and steak eye
- Side steak with sirloin tip
A solid general rule is to prefer white meat over dark meat when it comes to chicken. Tenderloin, loin chop, and leg are the leanest hog cuts, according to the Mayo Clinic.
5. Instead of White Rice, Choose Quinoa or Brown Rice
To increase the amount of protein in your diet, make this simple substitution frequently. Brown rice and quinoa can be used in place of white rice for most meals because they both have more protein per serving than white rice.
Though quinoa tastes more earthy than rice, the textures are similar. The amount of protein in each cup of cooked quinoa is eight grams, compared to 5.3 grams for brown rice and only 4.4 grams for white rice.
In terms of protein, quinoa is superior to both white and brown rice; nonetheless, brown rice is still an excellent option if you don’t like quinoa.
6. Include Beans in Everything
Beans are a protein source that is frequently disregarded and undervalued. Depending on the type of bean, they can provide up to 10 grams of protein per half-cup to salads, pastas, tacos, and many other foods.
While this may not seem like much in comparison to animal sources like eggs and chicken, adding beans to your meals will help you make up for any protein gaps in your daily diet. Beans are also a fantastic source of other minerals and fiber.
7. Use Whole-grain Bread Instead of White
Although bread may seem like an easy way to increase your protein consumption, several breads are surprisingly high in protein: Whole-grain bread is more in protein than white bread, much like brown rice is higher than white rice.
This is so because whole-grain diets retain all of the grain’s nutrients, including the germ, bran, and endosperm, while refining reduces the amount of grain to its nutrient-poor endosperm.
Dave’s Lethal Bread For example, each slice of 21 Whole Seeds & Grains has five grams of protein. You automatically get 10 grams of protein from two pieces of bread for breakfast, something you wouldn’t get from refined white bread.
