7 Ways to Help Your Body Get the Protein It Needs

Maintaining the health of your body is a complicated and constant chore. You need to make decisions on a daily basis that will improve your health and fitness. One choice you can make that will benefit both your health and your fitness is increasing your daily intake of protein. To help you get this health choice started correctly, here are seven ways to help your body get the protein that it needs.

Eat More Greek Yogurt

Yogurt is a highly nutritious food that is created from milk. Healthy bacteria is added to milk and left to ferment. During the fermentation process, the bacteria break down the milk sugars (lactose) into lactic acid. This lactic acid is the ingredient that causes yogurt to have its familiar tangy or tart flavor. While all types of yogurt possess protein, Greek yogurt possesses more protein than regular yogurt. This is due to the straining process it undergoes to remove excess liquid whey and milk sugar. To help your body get the wholesome and hearty protein that it needs, add a serving of Greek yogurt to your daily diet.

Snack On Nuts

Nuts are a delicious and simple way to provide your body with the protein that it needs to function properly. Nuts are also rich in vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats. There are certain types of unhealthy nuts out there. This distinction is limited to nuts that are roasted in oil, covered in sugar, and covered in salt. These additional toppings add extra calories, sugar, and sodium to an otherwise healthy and protein-packed snack. Nuts are not only rich in protein, but they are also highly versatile. You can add them to your breakfast cereals, breakfast yogurt, and to virtually any meal. Even many Asian cultures use nut sauces on their meat and noodle dishes. You can take your love of nuts a step further and invest in a variety of nut butters. Almond butter, peanut butter, cashew butter, and hazelnut butter are great sources of protein and vitamins that can be added to bread, crackers, or eaten alone.

Add Lean Meats and Seafood To Your Diet

There’s nothing better than a fat, juicy steak cooked just the way you like it. While it’s true that steak and other cuts of beef can provide you with servings of protein, you want to ensure that the protein you’re ingesting is also healthy and not loaded in saturated fats. To accomplish both of these goals, you will want to stick with lean cuts of meat and seafood to help your body get the protein that it needs. Lean cuts of meat that provide optimal nutritional benefits with very little unhealthy additives include lean chicken breast, lean turkey breast, and very lean beef. Seafood is another great source of protein. Adding seafood to your diet will also provide you with a healthy dose of Omega-3 fatty acids and other vital nutrients. Salmon, shrimp, tuna, and other fish meats are lean and rich in protein. Shrimp, surprisingly, are mostly protein, so don’t feel guilty about adding some steamed or grilled shrimp to your daily diet.

Drink Protein Shakes and Smoothies

Protein shakes and vegetable smoothies have become a very popular type of health food. They are a culmination of various ingredients that provide an abundant amount of nutrients in an easy-to-consume form. Protein shakes tend to consist of flavored high-quality protein powders, like Renegade Protein, and a type of milk. The combination of protein powder with protein-rich milk allows for double protein intake in a single drink. Fruit and vegetable smoothies are an alternative health drink to normal protein shakes. Creating smoothies from fruits and vegetables provides you with a beneficial range of minerals and vitamins. If you decide to go the route of nutritional smoothies, you will need to add high-quality protein powder to the fruits and vegetables. Thankfully, smoothies can be created to contain a variety of different ingredients that provide specific nutrients that your body needs. Peanut butter, yogurt, oatmeal, and other protein-rich foods can be added to your smoothie to improve its flavor and protein contents.

Indulge In Some Lean Dairy

As we covered previously, milk contains an abundant and healthy amount of protein. So, it stands to reason that any products created from milk would contain protein. This is very true when it comes to dairy products. While there is a difference between lean dairy products and unhealthy dairy products, we will be focusing mainly on lean dairy products for the purposes of increased protein intake. Examples of lean dairy products include low-fat cottage cheese, milk, skim cheeses, and yogurt. Sour cream is a dairy food that should be consumed on a situational basis. Full-fat sour cream contains a lot of saturated fat, which is very unhealthy. When you want or need to consume sour cream, opt to purchase a container of reduced-fat or no-fat sour cream instead. This will give you all of the calcium and protein with none of the fat and very few calories.

Start Your Morning With Eggs

Eggs are truly a wonderful choice of food. Eggs are incredibly healthy, boasting several vitamins and nutrients as well as Omega-3 fatty acids. They’re a low-calorie, high-protein food. They’re not only perfect as a daily breakfast food, but they’re also great as a pick-me-up midday snack. Boiled eggs will keep all day long and are portable. Eggs also pack a hearty amount of protein to help energize your muscles and to placate your appetite to avoid overindulgence in snack foods.

Embrace Legumes

Legumes are dry types of fruit hidden within pods or sheds. Common examples of legumes include peas, chickpeas, beans, alfalfa, and lentils. These foods are a healthy and rich source of proteins. Hummus, made from chickpeas, is a protein-packed dipping snack that can also be used as a side dish. Lentil soup is a warm, hearty way to enjoy your legume-derived proteins. Soybeans are also part of the legume family, so any food product made from soybeans, like tofu and soymilk, is going to be packed with healthy protein as well.