360fit - Simple facts about protein from health and fitness

We live in a culture of too many carbs and too little protein. I can't even count the times I've looked at someone's diet and told them, "You hardly ate any protein today." But why is eating it so important?

Actually it's simple. Protein is a major building block for everything in your body. Without it you have a hard time growing hair, bones, skin and muscles. And when you exercise the idea it to grow muscles.

Now you might no be wanting to be big, and that makes sense. But you still need to grow some muscle for fitness. That's what exercise is all about, stressing your body to grow muscle and get in better shape. Because of this you need to feed those muscles. You need protein.

How much? Depends on your sex. If you're a woman who works out regularly then you need about .75 grams of protein per pound of body weight. If you're a man, shoot for 1 gram per pound of body weight.

This means having protein in every meal you eat, which might sound hard, but it's not really. Just start reading some labels, make a protein shake or two a day and you're there. You'll be happy you did when you're suddenly losing weight and getting in better shape.

Devin Sherrington
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