When you’re training and working out hard it’s important that your body gets all the protein it needs. Protein helps build and maintain muscle, heal wounds, and provides valuable energy. But it’s not always obvious how you can optimize your protein intake for muscle growth. Here are four top tips.
High Protein Foods
The best advice for getting sufficient protein is to eat lots of high protein foods. High protein animal products include eggs, meat, fish, and dairy. For plant-based, you can have lentils, beans, tofu, pumpkin seeds, oats, almonds, chickpeas, or quinoa.
Plant-based protein is better for the environment and some would say is more ethical. However, it’s not quite as good at building and maintaining muscle as protein from animal products. If you eat a plant-based diet, the best advice is variety. Eat lots of different kinds of protein-rich foods!
Protein shakes are convenient and effective. You can tailor the amounts of protein to your workouts and they are quick and easy. But they are only effective if you have been working out regularly for some weeks.
Protein shakes aren’t a substitute for real food. They are only a supplement for those athletes you do regular hard workouts. The body cannot digest too much protein. It’s best to stick to high priotein nutritious food.
