The 5 Surprising Benefits Of Getting More Protein In Your Diet
Spoiler Alert: Turning Into Arnold Schwarzenegger overnight isn't one of them.
There are some seriously amazing benefits to meeting your daily protein intake requirements.
Unfortunately, vegetarian and vegan diets, while being rich in foods containing protein such as soy, lentils, tofu and beans, often fall short of the daily recommended intake of protein - especially for those who are exercising or looking to change their body composition.
Why? Because while these foods contain protein, they're typically less protein dense and more filling than other sources, with an average serve containing 8-15g of protein.
While it's certainly possible to meet your daily recommended intake on a vegan or vegetarian diet, it's incredibly difficult to do so consistently and with ease, while still leading the lifestyle you enjoy, and most importantly, enjoying what you eat!
Quick Facts: The minimum daily recommended intake of protein is 0.5g for females, and 0.7g for males, per pound of body weight. For those exercising and looking to improve their body composition (lose fat and build lean definition), you're looking at 0.8g for females and 1g per pound of body weight. Minimum.
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That means for the average female looking to lose fat, the minimum daily intake of protein sits at around 100-125g protein, which equates to 1.5kg of tofu, 3 litres + of soy milk or over a kilo of lentils! And sorry blokes, you'd need to be eating even more...
Let's take a look at the Top 5 Benefits of getting enough protein in your diet that you may not have known about...
1. Weight Loss
But wait, how can eating more lead to losing weight? Calories are calories, right?
Wrong.
The human body actually uses energy to eat, and therefore, burns calories to digest food. This is called "thermic effect".
Note: Eating does not therefore count as exercise! Sorry. Nice try.
Protein has a thermic effect of around 20-35%, while carbs and fats around 5-15%
This means that a higher protein intake increases the amount of calories burnt by the body during a resting state - by around 80-100 calories per day, of doing zilch! Nada!
2. End Food Cravings - And Late Night Snacking!
Hunger and food cravings are actually two completely different things.
While hunger is the body requiring energy and nutrients, cravings are a completely different kettle of fish, with the brain desiring the feel-good hormones released from the intake of junk food.
The best way to overcome them, or just prevent them showing up at all - is to increase your protein intake.
This study found that overweight men who increased their protein intake to 25% of their daily calories (this is the minimum recommended intake) reduced cravings by 60%, and cut their desire to snack at night in half!
It's no surprise that a high protein breakfast is recommended to reduce calorie intake and snacking over the rest of the day!
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3. Keep Weight Gain At Bay
Losing weight is all well and good, but not when you rebound in the long term!
With the two benefits above, it's no wonder that when protein intake is increased, weight loss occurs effortlessly.
This study found that overweight women, eating protein at 30% of their daily intake of calories lose on average 5kg in 12 weeks, without intentionally restricting their diet.
So what about if you actually try?
This 12-month study of over 100 overweight people on a calorie-restricted diet, found that the high protein group lost 53% more weight than the normal protein intake group - even though both groups were consuming the same amount of calories.
Even a modest increase in protein has resulted in keeping weight gain at bay time and time again!
4. Mood Boost
While a sugar hit might perk us up in the short term (followed by that nasty crash), protein is vital for proper mental function and a positive outlook.
Protein contains amino acids, and certain amino acids are required for adequate hormonal function, as well as producing dopamine and serotonin, the two most important neurotransmitters for positive outlook, motivation and reducing anxiety.
Not only are these amino acids vital for positive mood, but also play a critical role in concentration, focus and energy levels. Deprivation of these amino acids results in poor cognition and co-ordination, learning and motor skills.
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5. Sleep Better
High protein diets have been found to allow people to sleep more restfully and wake-up less during the night, compared to high carbohydrate diets.
This is due to the optimised chemical transmitters in the brain mentioned above, allowing a more awake, energised state during the day, while feeling tired and ready for rest as the evening comes around.
The Easiest Way To Increase Your Protein Intake
Tribeca Health's X50 Raw Vegan Protein Ancient Grains Blend combines 20g of high quality and complete vegan-friendly protein (sourced from peas and brown rice) and adds:
- Green Tea Extract for increased well-being and fat burning
- Superfood Blend of organic acai, camu camu, goji berry and seabuckthorn juice for increased vitality
- Ancient Grains Blend of organic amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, millet and chia for energy
This delicious, high-protein supplement is free from all artificial nasties (colours, sweeteners, preservatives and flavours) and is the highest quality vegan protein on the market!
