protein dietProtein is a necessary part of a balanced diet, for good reason: protein is the key “building block” in virtually every part of your body, from skin, hair and nails, to bones, muscles, teeth, and beyond. It’s important to eat adequate amounts of protein each day because your body does not store it anywhere, so has no reserves if the supply runs out.

Exactly how much protein you need daily depends on your age and body weight. The U.S. RDA (recommended daily allowance) for protein is 0.8 grams of protein for every kilogram of body weight (2.2 pounds) for adults. So if you weigh 175 pounds, that is approximately 79 kilograms, multiplied by 0.8 grams of protein, and your daily minimum should be 63 grams of protein.

The younger you are, the more protein you need per kilogram of body weight. Children, for example, should be getting between 1.0 and 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

The good news is that it’s incredibly easy to get enough protein each day, even if you don’t consider yourself to be a meat lover. Here are three easy ways to start:

1) Breakfast

For breakfast, an obvious high protein source is egg. Each large egg contains approximately 6 grams of protein. Have two eggs and you’ve just doubled your intake to 12 grams. If you don’t like plain eggs, you could make an omelet, or mix up some egg salad and spread it on whole grain toast.

Eggless breakfast protein diet meals could include yogurt (usually 8+ grams of protein per cup), cottage cheese with fruit (14+ grams), or peanut butter on whole grain toast (8+ grams). Read the rest of this entry