Better Health and A Better Body – Two Nutritional Considerations

There are thousands of rules and opinions on what you should be eating – it’s overwhelming!

‍

Rather than talking about all the things you should and shouldn’t be doing, and further adding to the confusion, I wanted to outline two main strategies that I think will give you the greatest return when it comes to improving your health, and consequently, the way you look.

‍

Strategy 1. Higher protein intake

‍

Protein is essential for muscle growth and maintenance, you’ve heard it all before!

‍

However, there’s a good chance you’re still not eating enough.

‍

A range between 1-2 g of protein per kg of bodyweight is a good, general range for a lot of people. If you can spread this intake evenly out over a day, then that’s even better.

‍

It is estimated that consumption of two to three meals a day, each containing ~25–30 g of high-quality protein, is optimal for the stimulation of 24-h muscle protein synthesis (MPS) in healthy adults. This approximate quantity is thought to be sufficient, both for younger and healthy older adults.

Lonnie et al., 2018

How does this increase in protein intake help?

‍

• Helps you build and maintain muscle.

‍

• Helps you feel fuller if you’re looking to consume less calories from other sources.

‍

• Consuming protein has a higher thermic effect (essentially means you’re burning more calories by processing the protein).

‍

• If you’re ageing, it’s extremely helpful for maintaining muscle mass and offsetting the age-related decline (there’s a reduction in how efficiently you process protein as you age).

What does this amount of protein look like?

‍

As a general guide, shoot for a palm-sized amount of high protein food such as beef, chicken, pork, fish and so on.

‍

Some other options could include a bowl of greek yoghurt, a couple of eggs, and protein powders can come in handy if you struggle to get enough from whole foods.

‍

Not every meal has to have meat in it, you can have nuts/seeds, chickpeas, beans, lentils, tofu etc. but it can be harder to consume enough protein that way.

‍

How can I easily integrate this into my daily routine?

‍

The challenging bit is finding a way to incorporate it into your daily routine consistently.

‍

Making it easy and accessible along the path of your daily routine is a great way to solve this.

‍

For example:

‍

• Have some ready-made high protein meals in the fridge.

‍

• Have high protein snacks in your cupboard and fridge such as beef jerky, greek yoghurt, nuts and seeds, and canned fish.

‍

• Make the foods you don’t want to be eating less accessible. For example, don’t have a packet of chips in the cupboard, have your high protein snack in its place.

‍

It may not be as tasty, but it will help you feel fuller and will help your health and body goals.

‍

Strategy 2. Including more fibre in your diet

‍

Think vegetables, legumes/nuts/seeds, fruits.

‍

The good thing about increasing your fibre intake is that, similar to a higher protein intake, lots of fibre can help you feel fuller, which is especially handy if you’re trying to cut some fat.

‍

It’s essential for your digestive health and avoiding chronic conditions, contains a wide array of important nutrients and it’s one of the best strategies for positively impacting your gut microbiome.

‍

“The main food component to impact gut microbiota composition and activity is certainly fiber.”

Ercolini & Fogliano, 2018

‍

The fact that it improves your gut health, means you get all those associated benefits, such as an improved immune system, better regulated behaviours and emotions, improved sleep, improved use of nutrients from your diet – and, they’re even coming out with research about the role of your gut health in maintaining and growing muscle, among other things.

‍

How to easily integrate?

‍

Including more fruits and veggies in my diet has been something I’ve personally been doing a better job of lately.

‍

It circles back to simply making it more accessible in my daily routine.

‍

Two ways I’ve done this is ordering a weekly fruit and veggie box. Very little physical effort, you don’t have to think about what you should buy, and then you have a fridge full of fruits and veggies. Another benefit of this is that you’ve created your own monetary commitment (you don’t want to waste your money so you do your best to eat them all).

‍

The other strategy is having jars of sauerkraut and other fermented vegetables in my fridge. It requires no preparation and, if you don’t mind them, they pair well with many foods/meals – not to mention the further positive benefits that fermented foods have on your gut health.

‍

‍

Wrapping it up

‍

Remember, this isn’t a “protein and fibre only” diet. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat anything else but high amounts of protein and fibre!

‍

If you can focus on increasing your intake of protein and fibre through whole foods, it should naturally replace a lot of other, less ideal foods. For the other foods, they can fill the smaller gaps where you see fit.

‍

Ignoring the various diets/opinions and just following these two things consistently for an extended period of time, you’re bound to see positive changes in your health and also in the way you look.

‍