But what if you just want to be healthy in general?
What if you dont even care that much about being healthy, but want to avoid overeating?
Protein is important for you too.
Anew studyhas put the spotlight on a lack of protein as a potential driver of overeating.
Its findings give more support to an existing concept called the protein leverage hypothesis.
Sometimes people call this protein hunger.
Why protein is important
Our bodies dont just need protein to build new muscle tissue.
We also need protein to heal and repair damage.
Our bodies continually break tissues down and rebuild them, and we need protein for that task as well.
Many hormones are made of protein; the receptors that receive hormonal messages are made of protein as well.
So we need a steady influx of protein just to keep our body functioning.
And if we exercisewhich is important for a healthy bodywe need protein to support that as well.
Without enough protein, we can actually lose muscle mass over time.
And if the protein leverage hypothesis is correct, we also need protein to keep us from overeating.
Put all that together, and its worth making sure to get enough protein in your diet.
Weve launch the numbers forvarious body sizes and activity levels here.
Its true that, on average, we eat more than the minimum requirement of 0.36 grams per pound.
Athletes will eat more, up to a full 1 gram per pound of body weight.
Most of us should be somewhere between those numbers, especially if were active.
So what happens when we decide we want to eat healthy?
If youre going for plant-based meals instead, those tend to be even lower in protein.
Which foods are high in protein?
Foods that have the word protein on their labelare usually still pretty low in protein.
A protein muffin may have more protein than a regular muffin, but neither isactuallythat high in protein.
Quinoa hasmore protein than rice but about the same amount as pasta or wheat bread.
Peanut butter has more protein than, say, actual butter.
But the thin smear you spread on toast will only add a few grams to your daily total.
And if you need ideas, we have a collection ofcheap, easy, high-protein meals here.
