Protein 101

Protein is the most important nutrient for changing body composition.

For those who don’t know what is meant by Body composition, the context we are referring too is the ratio of muscle mass to fat mass we have on our body.

Did you know, the word “Protein” actually means “of first importance” in Greek 🇬🇷

Proteins are a complex combination on smaller chemical compounds called amino acids. There are 22 amino acids, all of which can be put into two groups: essential and non-essential.

Essential Amino Acids - these are what the body needs fo get from food as the body cannot make them.

Non-Essential Amino Acids - these are what the body can make itself.

There is also something called the “thermogenic effect”, which we get from food. Simply put, we expend energy digesting, absorbing and removal of waste products from the food we eat. Protein has an estimated 20-30% thermogenic effect.
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It is important to note having sufficient protein intake is important for fat loss, it has been found in countless studies that increasing protein intake when in a calorie deficit aids fat loss, maintains muscle mass, maintains blood sugar stability, improves metabolic markers for health and makes calorie restriction more bearable.

A good guideline for how much protein we need to consume as a minimum is 1.6g per kg of body weight.

So an example would be: 100kg person needs 160g protein per day, spread out over 4 meals, 40g protein per meal, an approximate guide is 100g of meat/fish is circa 20g protein, so a 200g serving would be perfect 👌🏻