Protein

Protein is a major component of all the cells in our body -- your 💪🏻 are made of protein, your immune system requires proteins, all enzymes, hormones, hair, fingernails, and collagen are #proteins.

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#Protein is a hot topic and based on the marketing and media we’re often led to believe that we need more ➡️ as soon as we wake up, before the gym, after the gym, as a snack, with dinner, before 🛏 …but do we really need to up our protein intake?

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It is recommended that 🔟-3️⃣5️⃣ percent of our daily calories come from protein. For the average 🚹 (19+) that’s about 56 grams of protein per day. For the average 🚺, it’s 46 grams of protein.¹

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Overall, 🇺🇸’s are doing pretty good at meeting the protein recs based on age and sex…but when we take a deeper look we see that 👨🏻 19-70yrs tend to over-consume protein while teenage 👧🏽 14-18yrs do not meet their protein recommendations.²

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Goal – eat a variety of protein foods, because all the different types (#eggs vs 🐠 vs legumes) also offer different fats, vitamins, and minerals.

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⚠️ Not all protein is created equal. This has to do with the #AminoAcids (aka the building blocks of protein). You can certainly eat a nutritious diet without animal protein but stay tuned, @nosh_it_foodfacts will explain!

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#eggs 🥚 #beef 🥩 #seafood 🦞 #legumes 🥜 (DYK that #peanuts are not a nut! They are a legume!) #chicken 🐓 #dairy 🥛 #soy#NoshItFoodFacts

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¹ Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes: The essential guide to nutrient requirements. Washington (DC): The National Academies Press; 2006.

² @usdagov & HHS. 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.