So you’ve heard a lot about “high protein diets”, “paleo”, “muscle gain”, “keto”, “ketosis”, and the like…but have you understood what it all means in the bigger picture? The whole idea of PROTEIN as a nutrient and what it means to you?

Well, here's a short guide on the details of protein and how you can eat it to your full advantage for the goal you've aimed towards.

Protein is one of the macronutrients; that is, eating it provides you with energy (calories) to move, breathe and live. It has roughly 4 calories per gram, compared to, for example, vitamins and minerals which have almost 0 calories per gram.

It also provides the function of a building block for your body's muscle, joints, tendons, organs, hormones and many other things, because protein is made from amino acids: the smaller building blocks that are used from the protein to make those parts of the body.

For the absolute most basic functionality of your body, to not go into protein deficiency, you need 0.8 grams of protein from your food per kilogram of body weight; so if you weigh 70kg, you need an absolute minimum of [70 x 0.8 =] 56 grams of protein per day from your food. To see muscle gain, you need around 2 grams per kilogram of body weight.

If you're thinking that you can just eat a chicken breast per day and you'll get at least 50% of your protein in one bite, it's not that simple. Foods that are touted as high protein do not have a full load of 100g of protein per 100g of that food. Chicken breast is made up of other things such as fat and skin and tendons (some of which you don't digest) so it's not 100% protein (it's actually about 31% protein).  

Check nutrition labels of all foods to work out how much protein you're getting a day, but the most common sources (in order of highest to lowest protein quantity per 100 grams) are red meat, poultry, fish and seafood, eggs, dairy products, beans and pulses, nuts and seeds and some vegetables.

It's better eat protein from a variety of sources for 3 main reasons:

1. You will not get the full amount you need per day from just one meal or one food, you need to spread it out
2. Different foods have different types of amino acids, all of which you use for proper body function; it's like a puzzle to put together meals that give you the right amounts of amino acids that you need
3. You might be intolerant to proteins e.g. you might have lysinuric protein intolerance or cow's milk protein Intolerance, which prevent you from eating certain foods, so it's good to have backups from other sources

When it comes to the optimal time to eat protein, everyone has their opinion on the best to eat protein to maximise results. We say: just make sure you factor enough of it into your diet to meet your daily needs and eat it frequently throughout the day. There is no outright consensus on % of calories, whether to eat protein before or after a workout, or to pair it with cardio or weight training; everyone has a system that works for them to get the protein they need, and we think that you can create your own too. 

Protein usually fulfills 3 things when eaten right: you don't get sick from deficiency, it helps with muscle gain or muscle maintenance, and it helps with fullness during and after a meal (encouraging eating within your calorie window and thus less extra snacking).

PrepHero calculates your protein grams for you in all its meals, so it's super easy for you to eat exactly what you need from our dishes.