Protein - What About It?

 

There seems to be a lot of controversy regarding nutrients in the diet these days.  There is a lot of popularity with the low carb diets, and there are as many opinions on it as there are people.  I hold a lot of ‘old school’ belief that too many carbohydrates are not good for the human body, as I believe over consumption provides an environment for disease.  Most people tend to eat the wrong kinds of carbs like refined flour, sugar and pastas that are not whole grain.  Fruits are considered to be carbs too, so when closely monitoring carb intake, those are a consideration, but are a healthy choice due to the carb source being natural.

Some good food sources to boost your protein intake would be: beans, seeds, nuts, almond milk, tuna, salmon (wild caught), sardines, haddock, cod, flax (ground seed and oil) and pumpkin seeds.  Some interesting additions to that list also include hemp, maca and chlorella. For those who are athletic, amino acids such as L-Glutamine taken 20 minutes prior to training has been proven to be effective. Because the body becomes highly acidic when weight training, it is important to consume high alkaline foods immediately after training. Foods such as spinach, kale, cucumbers, broccoli, avocado, bell peppers and celery are great choice to provide the balance.

The New Four Food Groups (www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/food_groups.html) is a great website to check out to get started on a diet with less meat where you can eventually transition to vegetarian/vegan diets.  This is good for people who are very active, as many meats are acidic, so limiting them in your food plan will benefit the results in your workout program. Animal based diets produce free radicals. Also including a minimum of 50 grams of soluble and insoluble fiber, a pro-biotic and 50 mgs. of zinc a day is suggested.  There is no place for refined foods in any diet, as these are detrimental to long-term health….you may not experience adverse reactions immediately, unless it’s related to food allergies, but the natural aging process will prove this true eventually.

There are many poor food choices available, but there are many good ones such as tempeh and tofu which contain all ten essential amino acids.  Looking for and choosing a variety of foods will give balance internally.  Exercising consistently, 3-4 days a week minimum for 30 minutes will bring balance externally.  Put both together and you will feel better and look better and enjoy better health.  There is no substitute for clean, healthy living….choose that which is better!