One of the best meals for muscle growth, recuperation, and strength is protein. The recommended daily intake of protein for an adult is between 0.8 and 1 grams per kilogram of body weight (PDF). For instance, you should aim for 55 to 68 grams of protein per day if you weigh 150 pounds (68 kilograms). Divide the quantity of protein you need by the number of meals you eat each day to make sure you’re getting the right amount. Thus you are aware of the recommended protein content for each meal.
It may be advantageous for people who are physically active, lift weights, play sports, or work physically demanding occupations to consume more protein than is advised. More protein can be beneficial for older persons as well, especially those who are susceptible to sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss). Use the United States Department of Agriculture’s dietary reference intake calculator to determine how much protein you require. This diagram also illustrates what a daily intake of 100 grams of protein looks like.
The amount of protein you must consume on a regular basis may seem daunting, but with the appropriate plan and knowledge, you can make it happen. Try these seven simple methods to up your daily protein intake by 7 grams.
1. Make Protein a Ritual
The proverb “consistency is vital” has gained widespread acceptance since it holds true for practically any behavior you want to develop, maintain, or break.
Ritualizing activities or connecting one action to another can promote consistency, which in turn fosters the development of habits. To increase your daily step count, for instance, you can commit to daily 10-minute walks after breakfast, lunch, and supper. Wow, that’s an additional 30 minutes of daily walking.
2. Eat Your Protein First
Try to consume the majority of the protein in your meals before moving on to the other food sources, especially grains, which can quickly fill you up. You’ll be more likely to finish your protein source before feeling full if you eat it first.
Also, since protein can make you feel fuller, eating enough of it can help you lose weight and achieve your health objectives.
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3. Top Foods With Chopped Nuts
Try to consume the majority of the protein in your meals before moving on to the other food sources, especially grains, which can quickly fill you up. You’ll be more likely to finish your protein source before feeling full if you eat it first.
Also, since protein can make you feel fuller, eating enough of it can help you lose weight and achieve your health objectives.
4. Choose Leaner Meats
Leaner meats contain more lean meat and therefore more protein per serving because they contain less fat per serving. If you regularly consume animal proteins, this is one really simple approach to increase your daily protein consumption.
Leaner meats have less calories than fattier meats, and protein makes you feel fuller longer, so this is an excellent weight-loss strategy. The leanest beef cuts, according to the Mayo Clinic, are:
- Top sirloin steak
- Top round roast and steak
- Bottom round roast and steak
- Eye of round roast and steak
- Sirloin tip side steak
5. Choose Brown Rice Or Quinoa Over White Rice
You may make this simple substitution frequently to increase the protein in your diet. Both quinoa and brown rice can substitute white rice in the majority of meals because they both have more protein per serving than white rice.
Although quinoa does taste more earthy than rice, the texture is comparable. A cup of cooked quinoa has 8 grams of protein per serving, compared to 5.3 grams in a cup of brown rice and only 4.4 grams in a cup of white rice.
6. Add Beans To Anything
Beans are a frequently disregarded and undervalued source of protein. Depending on the type of bean, they can contribute up to 10 grams of protein per half-cup and are quite simple to include into salads, pastas, tacos, and many other recipes.
Compared to animal sources of protein like poultry and eggs, this isn’t much, but include beans in meals will undoubtedly help you meet your daily protein requirements. Beans also include a lot of fiber and other minerals.
7. Swap white Bread For whole-Grain
Bread is a seemingly simple way to increase your protein consumption, but some varieties actually contain a surprising amount of protein: Whole-grain bread has more protein than white bread, just as brown rice has more protein than white rice.
This is because whole-grain foods retain the germ, bran, and endosperm of the grain, whereas the refining process reduces grain components to only the endosperm, which is devoid of many nutrients.
Killer Bread from Dave For instance, each slice of 21 Whole Seeds & Grains has five grams of protein. Two slices of whole grain bread automatically provide 10 grams of protein for breakfast, something you wouldn’t receive from refined white bread.
