Why is protein so important?

Why is protein so important in a balanced diet? Protein is a very important component of the diet. Protein provides satiety. This is just a fancy way of saying that protein helps to keep us full longer than most carbohydrates. When you incorporate a good source of lean protein every time you eat you will find that your urge to snack diminishes and you have less cravings for carbohydrates. For example, if you have a piece of toast with jelly in the morning, I promise you that you will be hungry very soon after, and most likely, you will be scrounging for another carbohydrate. If you make one small change, replace the jelly with peanut butter (protein), you will find that you stay full for a longer period of time. Although fruit is a great snack, it does have natural sugars which can impact your blood sugar. If you have a cheese stick or a handful of nuts with your fruit at snack, again, you will stay full longer. This simple trick of always combining a protein with a carb each time you eat, will have a huge impact on how you feel and how successful you are in your weight loss attempt.
Another interesting fact about protein is that protein requires more calories to digest than carbs or fats. This is called the Thermic Effect of Food. In a nutshell, your body uses more calories to burn protein than it does carbs and fats. So by eating more protein we can stay full longer and our bodies will burn more calories. Seems like this may be a great first step in our Melting process.
Some good sources of Lean Protein are : Fish, eggs, poultry, lean beef and low fat/non fat dairy products. Legumes such as chickpeas, kidney and black beans are also great sources. Keep in mind that greek yogurt as almost 3 times more protein than regular yogurt and can be a great mid-afternoon snack.
You can get a good idea of how many grams of protein you are consuming by logging your food intake on your phone or computer. There are many great apps and programs available. Feel free to contact me if you have difficulty finding one.
KEEP ON MELTING! Noreen