Protein Made Simple By Jonny Landels of Next Step Nutrition

With Protein becoming so readily available in more and more products (well more highlighted) we thought it would be a good chance to look into the different types of sources for protein.

Enter Jonny...

We now have protein cereals, protein chocolate, protein waters, noodles and so on.

We see all these foods in the ‘healthy’ aisles at the supermarket;

‘Low Carb’, ‘Low Fat’, Gluten Free, Organic……

These labels can trick us into buying foods because we believe they will be better for us.

Obviously if someone is Coeliac then they need to eat gluten free but the rest of us don’t.

Foods with added protein are going along the same lines now.

HOW MUCH PROTEIN DO WE ACTUALLY NEED?

A ballpark of 1.2g protein per kilo of body weight per day is good.

So, if you are a 100kg male then 120g of protein – which would be about 3 chicken breasts.

Obviously you would not necessarily eat all your protein for the day in the form of chicken!

There would be protein in a lot of the foods you would normally eat.

If you are training regularly then think more towards 1.6g – 2g per kilo of body weight.

If you are really trying to pack on muscle then 2g plus, but beware of using all your calories for protein and sacrificing other important nutrients.

Now, I recommend to everyone, particularly if they are trying to lose weight, to eat protein at every meal.

WHEN I SAY THIS I AM TALKING ABOUT A ‘PORTION’ OF PROTEIN – AROUND 20-30G OF PROTEIN.

Most of these protein added foods do not count as a full portion of protein.

You need to be looking at a protein based food such as fish, meat or dairy.

If vegan then soy, tofu or a mix of beans.

I have been asked about beans on toast, I think it is a great meal.

If you had a full can of beans to yourself then you would get just over 19g of protein, so they are not a first class source.

WHEN THINKING ‘PROTEIN WITH EACH MEAL’ THINK A PORTION, 20G – 30G OF A PROTEIN BASED FOOD.

For example 100g of cooked chicken is around 25g of protein.

Read the nutrition information on the back of packets, it is really useful!!

Here are some examples of protein provided from 100g of certain popular foods; figures were taken from the British Nutrition Foundation.

PROTEIN IN SPORTS NUTRITION

A sports supplement company that extols the benefits of protein shakes over food should be shut down. ICON always recommend real food over protein shakes; however, to meet the high protein demands of a muscle building programme then protein shakes do have their place.

When you finish the gym it’s pretty hard to have a cooked chicken breast to hand, however it’s much easier to add water to your protein powder and consume instantaneously once finished training. Especially as post exercise is the optimal time to feed the muscles with quality fast absorbing protein.

For a top quality Whey protein shake we recommend choosing a grass fed whey protein powder such as our 100% WHEY PROTEIN. It really is protein powder evolved.

Other types of protein include:

Recovery Protein - Ideal for straight after training providing the optimal ratio of 2:1 Carbs to Protein.

Casein Protein - Ideal for night time to improve recovery whilst sleeping

Want to learn more about the benefits of Whey Protein?

Visit our blog here => https://www.iconnutrition.com/blogs/articles-and-guest-blog/protein-shakers-everything-you-need-to-know-about-whey-protein-shakes