1. Ask Mother Nature
By learning to listen to your body, you can hear it tell you when it needs specific nutrients, especially protein. Slowly releasing in the body, protein tends to stave off hunger pains longer and helps to maintain blood sugar. When you feel a drop in energy and your head begins to spin, it's time to feed your body some protein. The human body requires about seven grams of protein for every 20 pounds. So a 140 pound adult should listen to her body and ingest about 49 grams of protein a day.
2. Meat Stands Alone
Animal protein offers the most complete protein you can eat alone: you don't have to pair it with other foods. It provides enough of the amino acids necessary to let the body digest and use the protein constructively without drawing on other body chemicals to complete the absorption. Good animal protein sources include lean beef, chicken and pork, fish and eggs. Consider what comes with the meat package, though, such as high levels of fat. A porterhouse steak gives you 38 grams of complete protein, but it also carries 44 grams of fat to your body. On the other hand, that same amount of salmon has 34 grams of protein and only 18 grams of fat.
3. Grow Your own
Vegetables, especially dark green vegetables, are a great source of protein. Too often, however, people don't eat them with a matching protein that makes them complete and better for you. Vegetables and brown rice form a complete protein, as do cottage cheese and fruit. Soy is a great source of protein that's available in so many forms that anyone can up their soy intake with little effort. The frozen food aisle is full of soy burgers and tofu hot dogs. Soy milk, soy ice cream and raw tofu appear in even the most common neighborhood grocery stores.
4. Gas up
Beans make for an exceptional source of protein and are low fat if not cooked in fatback and smothered in high-fat sauce. Beans are very popular and widely available in both restaurants and the grocery store. Consider adding cold beans to a salad. Or serve beans cooked in onions and garlic as a side dish instead of potatoes. You and your family can begin to experience the many different tastes of beans with most any meal.
5. Get Cheesy
Milk, cheese and yogurt serve double and triple duty. As they bring plenty of protein in your diet, they're also rife with vitamins and calcium. Men and women alike can always use additional calcium in their diet. If you watch the fat content, dairy products are a tasty addition to most any meal. Learn to love skim milk and you'll never be without a great source of protein.
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