If you haven’t noticed, protein seems to be popping up everywhere. Its presence is emphasized in foods you already know have it, such as yogurts and meats. Not to mention, protein seems to be added more frequently to products you wouldn’t expect to contain it. Coffee drinks at your neighborhood café, sodas, waters, and the list goes on.
What’s behind this growing emphasis on getting enough of the muscle-building nutrient? You could say it lies in the potential health benefits a protein-rich diet can bring. From a metabolism boost to blood sugar control, eating enough protein could get you closer to your wellness goals. Let’s explore what protein-first meal planning is and the reasons it’s catching on.
The Thermic Effect
People eat for more than just hunger. While you’re often eating meals or snacks to satisfy physical hunger, sometimes it’s for emotional comfort and boredom. Perhaps you nibble a little more than you should at a holiday meal or family gathering out of obligation. It’s hard to tell whether you should’ve put down the fork five minutes or half an hour ago.
Extra calories aside, when you follow a high-protein meal plan, it’s a bit easier for your metabolism to keep up. It’s because protein has a higher thermic effect than other types of nutrients like carbs and fats. Your body uses more calories to digest protein than carbohydrates, for example. The calories out can exceed calories in.
A few veggies and fruits have this advantage as well. In some cases, the caloric count of the food is less than what your body burns by processing it. While protein burns 20% to 30% of the calories consumed, carbs only burn between five and 10%. Plus, the nutrient makes you feel fuller for longer. Since it takes more time and energy to process protein, you don’t feel the need to eat as much or as often.
Muscle Maintenance
Aging may bring wisdom, but it’s also marked by physical changes you may struggle to accept. One of those is muscle loss. As you get older, you usually lose between 3% to 5% of your muscle mass each decade after 30. The rate at which you lose muscle and how much you shed can depend on your lifestyle.
If you exercise daily and do strength training activities, you’ll probably slow the loss down. But another way to combat muscle loss is to get enough protein in your diet. Protein helps maintain and repair muscle. Combined with exercise and strength training, protein-first eating habits help you keep as much of your muscle mass as possible.
This is good for your metabolism and overall health. For one, people with higher muscle mass burn more calories. Your resting metabolism, which is the rate at which you burn calories when sleeping or sitting, is greater. Protein-first meals can help prevent weight gain as you age, particularly in the midsection. Maintaining your muscle mass also ensures you can continue to perform daily activities, such as opening containers, without difficulty.
Blood Sugar Control
You know the drill. It’s morning, and you’ve got to find something to eat. Hopefully, something quick, easy, and with enough fuel to keep you going until lunch. Grabbing a protein bar or shake can hit all those pain points. It’s a morning meal you can consume in the car on the way to work without having to do much prep.
However, there are other benefits to eating protein first thing in the morning. You’re preventing your blood sugar from spiking out of control and then crashing later. There’s also less of a chance you’ll get the munchies mid-morning. Fatigue, brain fog, and hunger pangs be gone.
Protein helps keep your blood sugar stable so you have sustained energy. Remember the slow digestion effect? It’s also what keeps you from feeling the negative effects of blood sugar spikes that can come from simple carbs. While complex carbohydrates aren’t the enemy, sugar can be. A maple long john isn’t processed the same way as whole-grain toast, especially if you add peanut butter on top.
Protein-First Hacks
You’ve already been introduced to one aspect of protein-first meal planning. That’s eating it for breakfast. When protein is a part of your first meal, you’re less likely to overindulge later on. The habit can also ignite your body’s metabolism, as there’s evidence that protein-rich breakfasts offer greater fat-burning benefits than high-protein dinners.
But there are other ways to put protein first. You can include it each time you eat. Instead of snacking on chips, try string cheese or apple slices with peanut butter. Heat up a black bean soup for lunch and add a side of cottage cheese for dinner.
Some people choose to add food products that boost protein intake. Powders, shakes, bars, and cereals with extra protein are examples. Yet, nutritionists would likely agree it’s better to steer your diet toward whole food sources. Throwing in a protein bar or shake after the gym isn’t necessarily going to hurt you. But like following any diet, eating a majority of whole versus processed foods is ideal.
The Power of Protein
Protein isn’t new. It’s part of the core nutrients foods can contain. What has shifted is the emphasis on eating enough protein to support better health. Instead of focusing on calories and low or no-fat foods, protein is taking center stage. It can be a way to support weight management, maintain muscle, and control blood sugar so you feel and look your best.