If you want to change the way you eat, for whatever reason - whether it's weight loss, muscle gain or simply to look after your teeth - it's worth looking closely at the different food you eat from day to day, and the makeup of the food from carbohydrates, proteins and fat. Each type has their associated benefits and risks, but experts have begun particularly to extol the virtues of a high-protein diet as an easier way to achieve the results you want.
Protein is used to build on and repair tissue in the human body. By taking in vital amino acids - all of which are found in meat and fish for example - the body can continue to fix itself from whatever demands are placed on it. The more demands that are made of it, the more protein it needs. This is why, for example, bodybuilders need to take in excessive amounts of protein. The body does not store protein like it does fat - whatever protein is taken in during the "protein window" following exercise is used immediately thanks to the body's heightened metabolism.
Following intense physical exercise, and in the absence of carbohydrates which would be replaced with the higher protein content of a high-protein diet, the body will burn any fat which it has stored and produce the protein that goes into rebuilding broken-down muscle. This will add muscle mass provided that the body exercises enough; if you do not then there is a risk of simply gaining weight in the form of fat rather than muscle.
In terms of dietary benefits, a high-protein diet is an easy way to lose weight. The body finds it much harder to burn those calories than it would carbohydrates; proteins are much more complex structures and so the body will find them more difficult to break down. The complex nature of protein cells will also signal a feeling of fullness to the brain sooner than it would if eating carbs, which means that the body wouldn't have to take in as many calories to feel just as satisfied.
The optimum time to take in protein to re-energise the body is either side of any exercise. About half an hour before you work out, mix up some whey protein with milk or water. Take more immediately after exercise so that the body can immediately begin to rebuild what you've broken down during exercise.
There are many benefits to a high-protein diet, no matter what goals you're trying to achieve with your body.
