I don’t want to start this post on a negative note but you know what gets me every time? Mixed nutrition messages from the media and food companies. For most people it’s nails on a chalk board, but me, it’s unclear information that makes people confused on how to eat.
This food for thought sparked from a commercial I saw this morning while doing a little exercise. I won’t name names but the commercial playing right now is mixing up sound nutrition. It’s about a cereal and the messengers are suggesting that the shown cereal has as much protein as an egg per serving.
What does this comparison make you think when pondering about protein needs for breakfast? Perhaps we should all be eating the amount of protein found in one egg? That is what it made me initially think.
However, an egg will provide only about 6 grams and protein and as an adult we need an average of 30 grams of protein at every meal. If you tried to get an average of 30 grams of protein from the cereal, you’d have to eat multiple servings. Even more, the cereal lacks some of the essential amino acids that are found in the high quality protein provided in eggs.
So onto the happy horse– protein is a fabulous! But among the 3 macronutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrates) it doesn’t rank gold nor do any of them. We need to eat the right percentage of each macronutrient to feel our best and for our bodies to work most efficiently.
Even a little more challenging we all have different needs. Try listening to your body as to what it needs to know what is best for you. This doesn’t mean load up on chocolate because that’s all you hear. Try eating balanced meals without over doing it on carbohydrates (breads, rice, pasta, chips, potatoes, etc). If you ate carbohydrates all day, you’d crave more and more. It’s quick energy and therefore you need to pair carbohydrates with protein and fat.
I’ll leave you with this analogy: Camp fire: carbohydrates are the fire, protein is the wood (twigs) and fat is the crumpled newspaper. You can’t have one without the other.
The amounts of each will vary but be sure to get your needed protein at each meal so you feel satisfied and stay satisfied for at least 2-3 hours.
Cheers to you and good health!