TOPIC TUESDAY: It's almost Easter, there's eggs everywhere... how are you with protein?
All the proteins in your body are made up of intricate strings of amino acids, 22 ingredients, millions of possible proteins. Of those 22 amino acids, we can "make" 13 of them by changing them from one to another, *BUT* there are 9 amino acids we CAN'T make, we have to get them from our diet: Vegetarian, vegan, or omnivore, somehow you gotta get your protein!
But how much protein do we actually need? Hah. You already know what I'm going to say... "there is disagreement in the scientific community."
The nutrition class I took used the standard of .8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, which is a number you'll see a lot of places, but I know professors (and MDs) who say that number is higher than necessary, depending on your lifestyle and daily activities. The good news is that any extra protein you eat that you don't need will just be used for energy, so as long as your calories are in balance, then a little excess protein is harmless.
Personally, I often find it challenging to get to my protein target while also staying in my calorie range. Chicken breast is a GREAT source of lean protein, so is tuna or other fish... and I'm so. sick. of. them. all!!! I can eat corned beef for days, but that meat is fatty and high calorie. Eggs and milk are good sources of complete protein, but eggs come with cholesterol (which may or may not be a problem, depending on whom you ask,) and we've already identified that a lot of us are not big milk drinkers... So then there's vegetable proteins like beans, but most of those are "incomplete" proteins, meaning that they do not have all 22 amino acids, which is why combinations like beans/rice or corn/lima beans are good, because the two sources together have all 22 aminos… BUT (there's always a but...) gram for gram, you get more protein per calorie from lean meat than from beans... meaning that for the calorie conscious, a chicken breast, however boring, will be a better choice than tofu any day!
So how do you guys do on getting in your protein? Lots of chicken breast and egg whites? Bean burritos on corn tortillas? TVP? Or "I dunno, I eat meat and call it good." ?