Protein - The Fitness Buzz word…

Protein is often seen as the magic ingredient when it comes to making gains but it’s often a lot more complex than just eating some raw eggs (gross) and adding in some shakes. Today I really want to do a deep dive into some of the mistakes I see the it comes to consumption of protein and where I think people are going wrong.

Firstly is the amount you actually need, when people come to me they are often either massively under eating or massively over eating protein, and both come with unwanted potential side effects. under eating protein means your body can not repair the damaged muscles as effectively after training, other side effects can be fatigue and not feeling as full or satiated after a meal, as well as leading to weak hair and nails. On the flip side too much protein can be hard for the body to digest and lead to kidney and/or liver issues and in terms of muscle benefit your body simply can not utilise it, so more really isn’t always more. The perfect amount is somewhere in-between and individual dependant, 1-1.5g protein per lb of lean body mass.

Sources of protein matter! protein is split into 2 main categories complete (a food that provides all nine essential amino acids your body needs but cannot make on its own) and incomplete (a food that contains some but not all amino acids) examples of this would be bread and pasta. so when calculating the amount of protein you have each day I would consider not counting any protein that is incomplete only could protein from sources such as meat, dairy, fish, beans, nuts and pulses. I would also stay away from anything like “protein bread” or “protein cereal” as they are often simply overpriced crap marketed at people with the protein buzz word for an excuse to hike up the price of an item which would normally contain incomplete protein anyway.

Quality matters too Protein is actually quite hard for the body to break down into amino acids so to get the most out of it we want good quality sorces easy for the body to digest, and also not products filled with sugar, chemicals and flavourings which will make digesting the food harder still. where possible get your protein from raw ingredients like meats or veggie alternatives, protein shakes are a great and cheap option to add more in but again look at the quality of the product you are using I wouldnt be buying any ready made shakes from Lidl or some of the cheaper powders you can buy in the supermarket. invest in a good product for most people I like super 4, for people who prefer an isolate I like vilosowhey iso and for a vegan alternative free soul or ghost are great options. By getting good quality proteins that are “complete” the body is able to break them down easier and therefore utilise them with no digestive stress.

Consume protein from different sources daily! Each source wont just contain protein and a slightly different amino acid profile but they also contain different nutrients, minerals and fibre as well. for example fish contains omegas while beef contains iron both these nutrients are essential for the body. So as great as chicken is we don’t want it to be our only source of protein.

I have said it before and I will continue to say it but the more we can get our diets to a healthy one the easier dieting will become healthy happy bodies get leaner quicker and build muscle quicker it doesn’t have to be just white fish and green beans every meal!

Oh and there is zero benefit to eating raw eggs.