And it happened again.  I’m in Singapore teaching and I was once again asked how much protein a person should be eating daily. 

I’ve been guilty as the next guy to get boxed into an answer to that question.  But, to be honest, it’s almost an impossible question to answer and you’ll never box me in again!

Because there are so many variables.

Here are my questions back to you.

What is your total calorie intake?

How about your carb intake? 

Are you training?  How often?  What type of training.  Are you new to training or have you been at it for awhile. 

What type of protein are you eating?

And the list can go on.

But you know what single factor, in my opinion, is more important than any of these questions above?

How frequently are you eating protein?  Protein timing completely trumps total protein intake.

Let’s say, for example, my answer for “how much protein per day” was 100 grams for simple math.  Considering research suggests most people eat 80% of their protein at dinner, with just 10% at breakfast and 10% at lunch, that means 80 grams of that example are coming at night, yet very little throughout the day.

We can’t store protein, though, like we can carbs and fat.  We store carbs in our muscles and liver.  We store fat, well, unfortunately everywhere.  But protein isn’t stored.  So when it’s eaten in a bolus at dinner like it is with most people, it can’t be used as effectively as we’d all like.  Instead, protein is  broken down into individual amino acids and then we use those amino acids as we need them and excrete the excess.

While there’s no ‘set’ number of grams that can be digested each meal, most research suggests we should instead eat a fairly equal amount of protein each meal and snack.

Back to the 100 grams example above, what if instead that was distributed over 3 meals 25 grams at breakfast, lunch and dinner and 10 or 15 grams for snacks?

Your muscles would appreciate the consistent doses of amino acids

Your energy levels would appreciate it since protein helps slow digestion of food

And so would your afternoon hunger pangs because you’d be more full than if you simply loaded up with carbs.

The question then turns from how much protein should I eat to “what should I eat if trying to get protein throughout the day?  It’s easy at night, but harder for earlier meals.”

It’s a mindset shift for a lot of people. 

Ready?

Your plain bagel for breakfast is gone.  Your bag of chips or piece of fruit for a snack is too.  And that frozen meal for lunch that’s basically all carbs, little protein?  Yup, toss that one as well. 

Instead, replace breakfast with some hardboiled eggs and fruit.  According to research at the University of Connecticut, swapping a bagel with eggs for breakfast helps you eat less later in the day.  Remember, protein helps fill you.

Snacks?  Try a SOYJOY bar that provides a combination of protein and carbohydrates.  Maybe have that with a little cottage cheese and fruit.  Carbs, protein, fiber among that trio of snacks voila!  Or try a Greek yogurt.  Higher protein.  Half the sugar of normal yogurt.  Top it with berries and some nuts.  Perfecto.

For lunch try some canned salmon or a packet of salmon if it’s not convenient to open and drain a can.  Add this to a salad, mix it with some avocado to make “salmon salad” and have that on a sprouted grain wrap, or maybe if you’re in a pinch, make your own smoothie with a scoop of whey protein, some fruit, even a handful of spinach for added veggies!

The key with consistency and eating protein throughout the day vs. a protein bomb all at once is planning ahead.  Plan some of the meals I talked about. 

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That’s not nearly as many as experts had predicted before the once-rapid rises in obesity rates began leveling off. But the new forecast suggests even small continuing increases will add up. “We still have a very serious problem,” said obesity specialist Dr. William Dietz of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Worse, the already obese are getting fatter. Severe obesity will double by 2030, when 11 percent of adults will be nearly 100 pounds overweight, or more, concluded the research led by Duke University.

That could be an ominous consequence of childhood obesity.

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If this amendment passes, it will mean that thousands of unmarried couples in our state will lose their rights to make health related decisions for their partners, and to healthcare benefits for their families. It can strip away domestic violence protections (a similar amendment did so in Ohio). It will take away many rights that our fellow citizens hold today. This amendment will effect young professionals and the elderly.

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Choosing the right wedding cake, therefore, is of supreme importance to the bride and the groom. Most brides in Jeddah trust Fab Sweets bakery for the perfect culinary piece for their wedding. The boutique is located on the second floor of Stars Avenue mall.

Fab Sweets is famous for its pretty non-edible garnishing and decorations, such as, crystals, flowers, jewels, pearls and ribbons, which give a dream-like quality to the cake. S

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You can’t prevent every trip to the emergency room, but simple steps can keep you safe — or keep you alive when the worst happens.

Americans made more than 119 million visits to emergency rooms in 2006, according to the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care. Among the most common causes cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are trauma, abdominal pain, chest pain, fever and acute upper respiratory infection.

To find out how to cope with those issues, we turned to experts.

To help you keep out of the ER, they say you should be getting ongoing care from a primary physician who may be able to catch small problems before they escalate.

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A cancer survivor’s personal mission to educate others about genetic testing brings her story to the big screen.

When Anne Parker was diagnosed with first breast and, later, ovarian cancer, she knew in her heart that, as she says, “there was something more than ‘bad luck’ involved” in her diagnoses. Having lost both her mother and her sister to the disease, she had grown up in the shadow of cancer, convinced that her family shared a deadly link. As she confronted her own diagnoses, her search for answers about the role the disease played in her family became, in her words, “all-consuming and obsessive.”

In 1998 Anne underwent genetic testing and discovered that she carries the BRCA1 genetic mutation. Armed with wh

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The longer I’m involved in the fitness industry, the more attentive I am to the health and well-being of my family, and the greater the emphasis I place on nutrition as a cornerstone of health. Research continues to prove that regular exercise is an absolute necessity for optimal health, and the complexity and power of the body’s relationship with the foods we consume is just as important.

One of the areas that I get asked about most often is my own nutrition. Many people are confused or overwhelmed by the massive amount of information out there in magazines, books and the Inter-net. On t

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It is already known that taking pills that combine estrogen and progestin – the most common type of hormone therapy – can increase breast cancer risk. But women who no longer have a uterus can take estrogen alone, which was thought to be safe and possibly even slightly beneficial in terms of cancer risk.

The new study suggests otherwise, if the pills are used for many years.

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Local?  Organic?  Conventional?  These are some of the questions we get all the time.

And this is timely as we just got our CSA Application from the farm we used last year (read on for more about CSAs).  Its also been on our mind with the recent story that surfaced on the news about the “pink slime” that is said to be added to 70% of store bought meat.  We posted this piece on both Facebook and Twitter.  To summarize, “Pink slime is beef trimmings. Once o

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The answer to this question is simply a big YES. For starters, you can review the e-cig affiliate programs commission percentage and see that the programs are indeed very rewarding. Get more…

Donelan Wines Obsidian Vineyard

The California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA), a San Francisco-based 501(c)3, recently introduced a new online Performance Metrics tool to complement its Sustainable Winegrowing Program. The CSWA works to establish standards of sustainablity practices and educate on the importance of sustainable practices. In addition to workshops and reporting, CSWA has a well-respected certification program through which wineries can receive certification for some or all of their vineyard and winery operations. Ma Get more…

Like everything else you buy, a baby monitor needs to meet your personal requirements down to the slightest of details. So before you purchase one, try to dwell on a number of variables first.

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That is why mother’s health should be protected from pathogens and complications as the fetus’ growth and well-being is tied to hers in many ways. Whatever di

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