Healthy Food Choices for the High-Protein Diet

Video Transcript

MARY HONDROS: I'm going to talk to you now a little bit about high protein diet. High protein diets are all the buzz now in nutrition. But most nutritionists will tell you that they're not actually that great for you. You should get a certain amount of protein in your diet from things like meat and cheese and milks. But most of the food and calories in your diet should come from vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. You typically need between 5 and 6 ounces of protein per day, no more depending on your age and weight and things like that. But what happens with high protein diets is that you loose out on a lot of really good carbohydrates that your body does need and you end up losing a lot of water weight, so it seems like you've actually lost a lot of weight. So, I would suggest just eating a moderate amount of protein and the weight--some 4 ways that you can do that is to choose 2 servings of a protein food everyday and that can be milk, tofu, or cheese. And also include non-meat sources like beans, tofu's a non-meat source, and--nut butters like peanut butter and cashew butter. Those are good protein sources as well. Remember to monitor your overall portions because that's really what matters if you're on a diet. And lastly, make sure you drink plenty of water. And those are good choices for a balanced protein diet.