Are you eating enough protein?

Although I'm a Nutritionist I'm also a massive nerd, which is why I'm finishing off the last few units in my Masters of Human Nutrition.  I've just submitted my latest paper towards my Masters and the topic I chose to write about was managing obesity via high protein diets.  After reviewing many random control trials and meta-analyses it is pretty clear that increasing dietary protein in the place of refined carbohydrate is a useful tool for reducing and maintaining weight.  This is because protein is satiating, increases your metabolic rate and also appears to affect the hormones that stimulate appetite.  Higher protein diets also tend to be easier to stick to long term.

I'm not suggesting that you need to become a body builder (in fact amounts in excess of 2g/kg body weight are difficult for the kidneys to process).  In fact most people in Australia consume enough protein in their day.  What does go wrong is that people don't tend to eat enough protein at breakfast and lunch leading to them overeating at dinner.

So what should a serve of protein look like and how much do you need?

WOMEN AGED 30-50 NEED 3 SERVES OF LEAN PROTEIN AND 2- 3 SERVES OF DAIRY EVERY DAY

A good guide to estimate a serve of lean protein is that it should be the size of a deck of cards.

Dairy is another excellent source of protein and women aged 30-50 should include 2-3 serves of dairy or calcium rich substitutes each day: