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It is important before starting any new eating program to check with your doctor regarding increases or decreases in certain food intakes and food sources.   Remember: Consult your health care professional before starting an exercise program.

Proof for Protein and the South Beach Diet

It has been proven by a lot of research and scientific experiment that protein is essential for your body. In fact, it is considered to be one of the top three nutrients required by the body to function optimally. Now with that knowledge about protein and knowing that it is important for your body I am sure you have a lot of questions in your mind related to why protein is important, the amount of protein required by the body and the kind of foods protein can be found in.

When it comes to losing weight a lot of people wonder whether protein is high in fat and calories and what role it plays. Another confusing aspect is that many people question whether vegetarians get enough protein in their diet, or where it comes from in the diet?

Protein has a great impact on your overall physical well being. It is not possible to build muscles without proper protein intake as muscles are mainly constructed and make use of protein. It mainly consists of amino acids. The human body utilizes protein to heal as well. Now, knowing this information and its interest it has generated it is best to find out how much protein is required in the daily intake of foods.

The requirements of protein in individuals vary from one body type to the other. There is a varied range of values recommended by experts in this regard. A good food guide usually recommends an intake of 45-65 grams on a daily basis. This amount is determined by one’s age and other activities, where one requires more amounts of protein as compared to another adult depending on what they do during the day and activity involved in. The protein requirement is also an increased value for athletes. A pregnant or nursing woman requires larger amounts of protein as well. This helps her in supporting both her and her child’s life. A lot of food guides in this instance also recommend intakes of 25-35 percent more protein than you take regularly.

Extra protein consumption will help you in making up for any kind of protein loss your body suffers from. Protein degradation happens due to a lack of protein in the body from repairing damages and muscles. It is important to fix these damages in a timely manner so that it does not make the body work hard to find protein from it’s’ storage sources. Can you make a guess on where your body finds all its’ protein? It finds protein from muscles. This tends to reduce your body’s ability to burn fat and even causes a problem for your hair and skin. Lack of protein in your body can also make you feel dizzy and weaker. This indicates that your body requires more protein than what’s recommended.

Protein recommendation is a kind of guideline that suggests the amount of protein your body is typically required to absorb. If your food contains more amount of amino acids or protein, your body can easily process and absorb it. However, it is also important to note that all protein foods do not contain amino acids. Proteins with important amino acids are usually found in fish, lean beef and chicken breast. Most beans and nuts contain only partial protein. When taking a diet high in protein, it is important to increase water intake as well. This helps in processing and breaks down the protein being absorbed. If you do not consume enough water, you may harm your kidneys in an attempt to handle all the protein you have consumed.

In case you feel that you are not getting a good amount of protein for your body focus on a high protein diet and increase water intake. In case you are considering an increase in the protein you consume consider the following. It is important to consume protein at regular intervals in moderate amounts. If you are not eating at regular intervals and focusing on only three large meals a day, chances are that you are not getting an adequate sustained supply of protein. I know this makes you think that doing this may increase your caloric intake.

However, generally proteins consist of very few calories when compared to carbohydrates. In fact carbohydrates contain almost double the amount of calories than contained in proteins. This indication, that you are consuming fewer amounts of carbohydrates if you are eating more protein is not a negative point. Hence, switching over to a high protein diet tends to decrease your caloric intake. This also can generally improve your blood sugar levels. Reduction in carbohydrate levels increase of protein ingestion helps in controlling glycolic index. This is the reason a high protein diet is known to be used by diabetics. Now, this may leave you wondering about lowering calories that can help the blood sugar but can increase fat.

Foods lower in fat are known to be healthier and also contain good amount of protein. Some of the excellent sources of protein include milk and lean meats. In case you are a vegetarian, you can rely on wide varieties of protein powders available on the market as well as fruits, nuts and supplements. These are not high in fat or calories. This is easier for the instance where a vegetarian wants to maximize protein intake as compared to someone who eats meat.

Most vegetarian food items tend to contain protein supplements. These food items include meals such as soy and nuts. You may also purchase veggie chips with fortified protein. This makes sure that you are getting enough protein even when you snack.

It has almost been eighteen months since I have started off with the South Beach Diet. The diet is actually a lifestyle diet plan focused on the intake of high amount of protein and produced by a well known cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatson. The primary motive of Dr. Agatson was to come up with a healthy and easy-to-follow diet. The South Beach Diet fits into this category very well. It consists of three stages. The first stage consists of addition of protein to your diet and eliminating carbohydrates. Certain foods are strictly restricted in this stage. However, the foods you can eat are enjoyable. The success rate of this diet is contributed to by the wide variety of foods it includes.

The second step of this diet adds a good amount of carbohydrates to then balance your diet. Here, you are still required to consume a high protein diet.

The third stage is oriented towards maintenance of weight. This is to be used from then on. I am happy to have relied on this diet plan and achieved the results I wanted.

Information provided in this article is general only and should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or a disease, or relied upon as legal or other professional advice. This information is not a substitute for professional advice or care. If you have or suspect you may have a health or legal problem, you should consult your own health care provider or your attorney.