10 Science-Backed Reasons to Eat More Protein

If you’re looking for a way to improve your diet, protein is the answer. Protein is an essential part of a healthy diet and can help reduce appetite, keep you full longer, boost metabolism and burn fat, increase muscle mass and strength, support bone health—just to name a few benefits. But what exactly does this mean? What is protein and why should we eat it? Let’s find out!

Reduces Appetite and Hunger Levels

This is one of the most well-known benefits of protein. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that protein can help reduce hunger, increase fullness, and reduce calorie intake at subsequent meals. When you eat a diet rich in protein, your body produces more satiety hormones (like cholecystokinin and peptide YY) that signal to your brain that you are full.

In addition to being satisfied by this nutrient, eating more protein can also help you feel less hungry in between meals because it slows down digestion—making it easier for you to avoid snacking on junk food when hunger strikes mid-afternoon or late at night.

This can lead to significant weight loss when combined with other healthy lifestyle changes such as exercising regularly and sleeping well each night!

Increases Muscle Mass and Strength

Protein is the building block of muscle tissue, so it’s no surprise that eating more protein can help you build and maintain muscle mass. But what if you don’t want to bulk up? Protein is still important for everyone, even if you aren’t working out. As we age, our body composition changes in ways that make us less able to synthesize and repair muscle tissue. Consuming adequate amounts of protein helps prevent these changes from happening. It also helps with recovery after exercise by reducing inflammation and increasing blood flow to muscles.

If you’re trying to lose weight, eating more protein can also help. High-protein foods take longer to digest than other foods, so they keep you full for longer. This means that eating more protein can help with weight loss by reducing the number of calories you eat throughout the day.

Good for Your Bones

There’s a reason that “you are what you eat” is a common expression: it’s true! Your body needs nutrients to function properly, and these nutrients come from the food you eat. Protein is one of those important nutrients, and research shows that eating more protein can improve bone health.

That’s because bone health plays an important role in overall health throughout your lifetime. If your bones are healthy and strong, they can help prevent osteoporosis—a condition that makes bones weak and brittle—and other diseases like cardiovascular disease or diabetes later in life. In order to maintain healthy bones throughout life, however, you need to make sure that you’re getting enough of this vital nutrient every day through eating the right foods.

Protein helps build strong muscles as well as keeping them healthy by allowing them to repair themselves after intense workouts–but how much do we really need? According to some experts such as Dr Steven R Gittens who wrote The Complete Book Of Healthful Aging (2015), we should aim for approximately 6oz of meat per day (this amount equals about 150g).

Reduces Cravings and Desire for Late-Night Snacking

By now, you’re probably familiar with the fact that eating more protein can help you lose weight. But did you know it can also reduce your cravings and desire for late-night snacking?

Protein is more satisfying than carbohydrates (the main nutrient in most foods) and helps keep you feeling full longer. In fact, research published in the journal Appetite found that people who ate a breakfast high in protein had lower levels of ghrelin (the hormone that stimulates hunger) throughout the day compared to those who ate a meal made with fat or carbs. And another study from the University of Utah found that women who consumed more egg whites felt fuller than those who consumed fewer eggs—and they lost twice as much belly fat over two years!

Although there are countless ways to get your protein fix (including nuts and seeds), we recommend choosing lean sources like chicken breast or flank steak over processed meats like bacon or sausage links (not only because they’re less likely to contain additives but also because they tend to be higher in calories). Even better: Pair these foods with vegetables like broccoli or spinach to increase their satiety factor even further!

Boosts Metabolism and Increases Fat Burning

Protein is a key ingredient in building muscle and bone, which means it helps you burn more calories.
Protein-rich foods keep you feeling fuller for longer, so you don’t have to worry about overeating later on (and who doesn’t love that?).
Protein contains tryptophan, which your body converts into serotonin—the feel-good chemical responsible for happiness and relaxation. The result? You’ll be able to sleep better at night.
Eating more protein helps maintain muscle mass during weight loss, so when it comes time to shed the pounds again later on down the road there won’t be as much work involved!

If you’re feeling a little sluggish, try adding more protein to your diet. It may just be the perfect cure.

Lowers Your Blood Pressure

Your blood pressure is an important number that you should know about and monitor. Blood pressure is the force exerted by circulating blood on the walls of your arteries as it pumps through your body. The higher your blood pressure, the higher that force will be, which can lead to damage in your organs and tissues over time.

For this reason, it’s important to keep your blood pressure under control by eating a healthy diet rich in potassium-rich foods such as bananas, potatoes and spinach (don’t worry—spinach doesn’t have to be covered with cheese sauce!). While there are many other minerals that help regulate heart function and prevent hypertension (such as calcium or magnesium), these three are particularly potent sources of potassium.

Studies have shown that increasing intake of potassium lowers risk for stroke or death from cardiovascular disease while decreasing sodium intake does not lower risk for cardiovascular disease or death from any cause according to research done at Harvard School of Public Health published in JAMA Internal Medicine journal (Vol 174 No 7). Eating more protein can also help lower overall cholesterol levels because proteins don’t contain cholesterol like carbohydrates do—so if you’re looking for more ways to reduce sodium intake without affecting other aspects of health then consider adding more protein into meals!

Helps Maintain Weight Loss

Protein helps you feel full. While it’s common knowledge that protein is essential for building and maintaining muscle mass, it can also help you feel fuller after eating less food—which can be helpful in weight loss situations.
Protein helps you build muscle. If you’re trying to lose weight and build muscle at the same time, adding more protein to your diet is going to be beneficial in both regards. You’ll have more energy from the extra calories (so long as they come from healthy sources), which will keep your workouts going strong, but you’ll also be able to build more lean muscle tissue. This means that even after losing fat, what remains is more toned and defined than ever before!
Protein helps burn fat. Eating plenty of protein actually boosts metabolism by increasing thermogenesis (the body’s production of heat). This makes the body work harder during digestion and results in additional calories burned throughout the day—even while sitting at your desk!

Does Not Harm Healthy Kidneys

An essential part of human anatomy, the kidneys are responsible for filtering waste from your blood and producing urine. They also help regulate blood pressure, maintain electrolyte balance and release hormones that control blood sugar levels.

While studies have shown that eating a high-protein diet can put strain on your kidneys, there’s no evidence that it actually causes long-term harm or damage to these vital organs. In fact, studies show that a high-protein diet may actually protect against kidney disease! This is because protein helps the body maintain healthy blood pressure levels (which can reduce risk of heart attack), boost muscle mass (which increases physical activity) and lower fat intake (which decreases risk factors for diabetes).

Helps Your Body Repair Itself After Injury

You can’t repair yourself without protein.

Healthy muscles and organs require constant nourishment in order to function properly, and if you don’t meet your body’s demand for amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) during a period of recovery, it will only make it harder on your body and prolong your healing time. For example: In the case of an injury requiring surgery, it’s important to eat enough protein after surgery so that you get adequate nutrition while your body is still healing from an operation. The same goes if you break a bone—protein is essential for repairing damaged tissue as well as making new muscle and skin cells so that you won’t be left with any weak spots!

Helps You Stay Fit as You Age

Protein helps you maintain a healthy immune system, metabolism and brain as you age. As we get older, our bodies naturally lose muscle mass and bone density. Protein is essential for maintaining these things as we age; without enough protein in your diet, you could experience:

Weight loss or weight gain
Slower metabolism (meaning it takes longer to burn fat)
Reduced energy levels
Decreased strength and endurance

Maintaining a healthy weight also means maintaining a healthy immune system. A diet with enough protein helps keep your body in good shape so that you can ward off illnesses like colds and flu.

Protein is an essential part of a healthy diet.

Protein is an essential part of a healthy diet. Protein helps build muscles and maintain them, allowing you to do more things that require strength and endurance. Protein also keeps you full longer; the amino acids work with your gut to produce hormones that signal your brain when you’re full, so you don’t have to eat as much at any one sitting. This means not only are you eating fewer calories overall but also that your body burns more fat in the process because it feels satisfied for longer periods of time (and thus doesn’t need as many extra meals).

Conclusion

If you’re looking to be healthier and eat more protein, we hope these tips have given you some inspiration. Remember that it doesn’t have to be hard! You can start small by adding more protein-rich foods into your diet. As with any diet change, it’s important to listen to your body and only make changes that feel right for you—but don’t let this stop you from trying new things! The key is finding what works best for each person individually.

Dmitry Bilchenko

I'm a martial artist and fitness enthusiast.

I love learning about the latest fitness trends, nutrition, and training methods. I also enjoy sharing my knowledge with others who are just starting out on their fitness journeys.