Choosing Healthy Proteins

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Protein makes up the building blocks of organs, muscles, skin and nails, hormones, repair tissue and so much more. You have to eat protein to sustain quality life. For this reason, you should eat high-quality protein multiple times a day. Consuming quality protein assist with weight loss, especially belly fat, and increases muscle mass and strength. The recommended daily intake for protein is 46 grams for women and 56 grams for men. However, depending on your level of activity throughout the day, you likely need much more than that to function optimally.

Go lean: focus on beans, nuts, tofu, fish, and eggs for good sources of lean protein with low saturated fat content.

Quality over quantity: don’t stress too much about protein quantity. Eating a variety of healthy protein-rich foods throughout the day (and week!) and ensuring that each meal has a protein source will help ensure your body gets the protein building blocks it needs. 

Variety: try rotating your proteins to be sure that you are getting a variety of nutrients. For example, if you had several soy products as your protein source for the past few meals, try adding another non-soy protein source into the rotation for the next meal. 

Nuts and seeds: Choose unsalted nuts or seeds as a snack, on salads, or in main dishes to replace meat or poultry. Nuts and seeds are a concentrated source of calories, so eat small portions to keep calories in check.

For tips on picking protein sources check out ChooseMyPlate!

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