Why Protein is Crucial For Fat Loss

Whether it be for fat loss or muscle gain, I always recommend taking a good protein supplement. The reason for this is simple: it is a convenient way to get high-quality protein without excess calories. The most popular and highest quality protein powder is whey protein. Whey is very digestible and is used efficiently in the body.

You can maximize the effects you get from your protein supplement simply by knowing exactly when to take it. Here is a list of the when, why and how of effective protein supplementation, ranked in order of importance.

1. Immediately After A Workout

If you only take protein once per day, this is the absolute best time to take it. Immediately after you finish your workout, your body needs raw materials to rebuild and recover with. If you don’t supply the raw materials through eating, your body will break down muscle from elsewhere in your body in order to rebuild the damaged areas. This is very counterproductive as you can well imagine.

By taking in some protein (20 to 30 grams or so) within minutes after exercise, you provide your body with the raw materials it needs to recover without breaking down it’s own muscle tissue.

2. An Hour After A Workout

About an hour following a workout, your body has settled down from the excitement and is ready to really start rebuilding. The protein that you took in immediately following the workout has been metabolized and your body is looking for more. Another protein shake at this time is a good way to help speed recovery. Try to take in another 20 to 30 grams about an hour after working out.

3. First Thing In The Morning

Immediately upon waking, or as soon after that as you can manage, take a scoop of protein powder. Your body has just been through an (approximately) 8 hour fast and is hungry for nutrients. Feed your body! Protein powder is more quickly assimilated than solid food and gets into your muscles faster. This protein shot gives your metabolism a boost, which can help with fat loss. Be sure to follow it with a good breakfast, of course.

4. Last Thing At Night

Prepare your body for the long overnight fast by giving it a little something to work with. A good combination for this purpose is to mix a scoop of whey protein in with a small glass of milk. Whey is what’s known as a "fast" protein, meaning that it’s digested quickly, while milk protein (casein) is what’s known as a "slow" protein, meaning it’s digested relatively slowly. At night, you want your protein to be metabolized slowly so that your body gets a more even supply over the course of the night. By mixing "fast" and "slow" proteins, you get the benefits of the higher-quality whey with the slower digestion time of the milk.

Which Protein Is Best For You?

If you are physically active and taking supplements but still cannot seem to get the energy back in your body and brain, then it’s time to look at how much and what kind of protein you are getting. Even though dieters have been using high-protein diets for years, many are unaware of how much protein they actually need and how critical it is to their overall health. Low-protein diets can be lacking greatly in a lot of essential nutrients such as zinc, iron, manganese, chromium, copper, and others. This deficiency can cause illness and fatigue. Protein deficiency leads to difficult recovery from exercise, feeling tired, frequent colds, poor hair or nails, and a cessation in menstrual period for women, which may sound pleasant but is potentially dangerous. People of all ages are not aware of how much their protein needs change as they increase exercise. As your activity increases, so does your protein needs.

Protein is important in your body because every single cell in the body is made up of proteins. Protein is also essential for muscle building, producing red blood cells, the production of various enzymes and hormones, and good hair, nails, and skin. Our immune systems are almost all protein based, so providing our body with protein means that we can fight colds and other infections better. Proteins are also needed in our body to repair muscle damage that occurs during mild exercise. Protein is made from a chain of amino acids and our body cannot make some of these amino acids, which means that they need to be found in our diet. There are eight amino acids that our body cannot make and must be found in our diet every day. These include: isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. Although it is nice to know which amino acids are essential, it is even more important to know where you can find these amino acids because your muscles and body need them on a daily basis.

Since proteins are constantly being broken down, it is necessary to get some every day. It is suggested that women aged 19 to 70 need 46 grams of protein per day, while men of the same age need 56 grams. Now that you know that protein is essential to your life, what kind of protein is actually needed? Even though protein can be found in a good diet by simply eating meat, nuts, eggs, and other foods, many of us with busy lives need a quick and convenient source of protein. At a health food store, your choices are soy, casein, whey, and egg. Although the classic protein source is whey protein, the problem is that even though it has a high amount of useable amino acids, some people don’t like it or have a hard time taking it. Other proteins like soy and casein don’t have the complete amino acid content that your body is looking for.

With all the different forms of protein available one might wonder which is best? Egg white is the perfect protein source. Egg whites contain more than half the protein of an egg and are also rich in chlorine, niacin, potassium, magnesium, riboflavin, selenium, vitamin K, and sulfur. Additionally, egg whites have a high amount of protein but exclude the cholesterol and sodium found in the yolk.

Egg white protein is considered almost perfect because human requirements for amino acids and the amino acids contained in eggs are almost identical. Eggs are also one of the well-tolerated proteins, as over 90 percent of the protein of eggs is digested into the individual amino acids that your body needs. Egg white protein is one of the few products on the market that taste good without the added artificial flavors, colors, or additives.

How Much Protein Do You Really Need?

This is hardly a secret to bodybuilding fanatics. While most of what you eat is generally from sources of carbohydrates, approximately one-fourth of the calories in your daily intake should consist of protein. Otherwise, your workout hour will consist of anything but power.

Too often, dieters indulge in low-fat diets that deprive their bodies of much-needed protein. Thus, the body begins to devour its muscle tissue like a hungry vulture.

In order to nourish your body with the proper amount of protein, it is first necessary to determine what your body fat percentage is and then weigh your lean body mass up against your level of physical activity. For example, if you are somebody who exercises on the average of an hour per week, then you’ll need to nourish your system with .7 grams of protein for every pound of lean body mass. So, if you have 140 pounds of lean body mass, you’ll need to take in 98 grams of protein per day.

If you are a more hard-core trainer who works out on the average of five hours per week, you’ll need to upgrade your protein intake to .9 grams per pound of lean body mass, which for the same person, would equate to 126 grams of protein per day.

Even couch potatoes need their protein, at least .6 grams for every pound of lean mass. Otherwise, serious health problems could result.

To engineer you protein diet, here are a few sources to guide you.

CHICKEN BREAST: This doesn’t necessarily come before the egg, but chicken breasts are among the most common of protein sources. Low in fat, remember to tear the skin off first while avoiding any fattening seasonings. Honey mustard is usually a great way to add some taste. The average chicken breast consists of 35 grams of protein.

EGGS: For a hard-boiled body, egg whites are tremendous in delivering the proteins that you need. Be sure to remove the yoke first (it’s loaded with cholesterol) before letting ‘em down the hatch. There are approximately 4 grams of protein in each egg white so you can load up on them throughout the day. Also, egg whites are fat free!

TUNA: Sparkle up your protein diet with Sparky himself. As long as you’re not mixing it with that fattening mayonnaise, tuna is an excellent dietary food that will provide you with the protein you need. There’s approximately 25 grams of protein in a can of low-fat tuna.

Importance Of High Protein And Low Fat Diet

For most high protein diets means low carbohydrates. Even body builders are not advised to go on a low carbohydrate diet as they have high protein requirements. Protein are the main source of muscle building, cell replenish and maintaining a good level of blood. In other words, proteins are the main building block of a body. And those who are interested in high protein diet need to do it carefully to avoid loss of carbs.

The main advantage of a high protein diet is that it triggers weight loss. Proteins have amino acids in them which are the main reason of good health. If your body is deficient in amino acid then you are bound to have health issues. If your diet revolves around good intake of protein instead of refined foods with high carbohydrate concentration then the body will turn into a state of ketosis. In this state the body will turn towards burning fats as energy source when it will not find fuel in the form of carbohydrates. Thus lesser carbohydrates mean more burning of fats.

Researchers have shown that not all intakes of protein are helpful. Let's say that you are taking a vegetable that are rich with high proteins but they are fried and dripping in oil then they more harmful to your health then being of any health to your body.

Another very good source of proteins is meat. Meat like pork and beef are rich with proteins and other nutrients. Or if you are a lover of oily and fried foods then you can opt to eat fish and other seafood. The reason behind this is that these are not only rich with proteins but also have fatty acid in them that help you in maintaining a good blood cholesterol level as well as prevent such conditions as stroke or coronary artery diseases.

However, some experts claim that too much protein results in reduction of calcium supply in body and cause diseases like osteoporosis. Moreover, the efficiency of kidneys is reduced. A high consumption of proteins can cause kidney stones, by increasing uric acid levels in the body.