Part 4.
Spread your protein intake out over the day
Many of us tend to have a fairly low protein breakfast and high protein dinner – but evidence shows that three high protein meals daily is more effective at maintaining and building muscle.
If you’re really trying to max out your protein intake, you can of course add protein powders to cereals, pancakes, baking and smoothies. My tip is to look for one without a gazillion ingredients, and to skip anything with low joule sweeteners like sorbitol, mannitol and xylitol (which can cause a lot of bloating, gas and IBS symptoms).
High protein breakfast ideas
- High protein shake/smoothie with toast and peanut butter
- Scrambled eggs and baked beans on toast
- Protein enriched Greek yoghurt with nuts, seeds and fruit
- Porridge or overnight oats made with skim milk, nuts, chia seeds and topped with Greek yoghurt and LSA
High protein lunch ideas
- Grilled chicken with lentil and roast vegetable salad
- Pulled pork with black beans, cheese and coleslaw in a wrap
- Egg, cheese and vegetable frittata
- Tinned tuna, boiled eggs, rice and salad
- Pokè with brown rice, tofu, chick peas, nuts & seeds
- Or choose a high protein, frozen ready meal
We Feed You ready meals - a good source of protein.
You don’t need to meal prep every lunch or cook every dinner. We Feed You has a large range of meals that provide generous serves of quality, lean protein from a wide range of sources. Apart from saving you time and energy, it’s easy to understand exactly how much protein you’re getting per meal, using We Feed You ready meals. How about this Lemon and Ginger Chicken with 40.8g per serve? Or the Beef Rendang Curry at 38.5g per serve?
You can check each meal using the nutrition information panel to look for the protein content per serve or simply use the search filter which identifies which meals are a good source of protein as per the guidelines set out by Food Standards Australia New Zealand.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need to fall into the trap of spending big bucks on highly processed supplement foods like bars and shakes, to meet your needs on a high protein diet. Where possible, look toward getting your protein from a range of real foods, and including plenty of plant-based protein foods like legumes, nuts and seeds for optimal health.
REMINDER
Before embarking on any dietary change, always consult your doctor or dietitian, to ensure it is right for you, and your individual health factors.
References
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Baum JI, Kim IY, Wolfe RR. Protein Consumption and the Elderly: What Is the Optimal Level of Intake? Nutrients. 2016 Jun 8;8(6):359. doi: 10.3390/nu8060359. PMID: 27338461; PMCID: PMC4924200.
Santos HVDD, Araújo IS. Impact of protein intake and nutritional status on the clinical outcome of critically ill patients. Rev Bras Ter Intensiva. 2019 May 30;31(2):210-216. doi: 10.5935/0103-507X.20190035. PMID: 31166561; PMCID: PMC6649228.
Snijders T, Trommelen J, Kouw IWK, Holwerda AM, Verdijk LB, van Loon LJC. The Impact of Pre-sleep Protein Ingestion on the Skeletal Muscle Adaptive Response to Exercise in Humans: An Update. Front Nutr. 2019 Mar 6;6:17. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2019.00017. PMID: 30895177; PMCID: PMC6415027.
Stokes, T.; Hector, A.J.; Morton, R.W.; McGlory, C.; Phillips, S.M. Recent Perspectives Regarding the Role of Dietary Protein for the Promotion of Muscle Hypertrophy with Resistance Exercise Training. Nutrients 2018, 10, 180. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10020180
Moon J, Koh G. Clinical Evidence and Mechanisms of High-Protein Diet-Induced Weight Loss. J Obes Metab Syndr. 2020 Sep 30;29(3):166-173. doi: 10.7570/jomes20028. PMID: 32699189; PMCID: PMC7539343.
