Swole Food (Proteins)

Protein

Beginning my Swole Foods series will be the building blocks of muscles.  Here at Swole Squad fitness we get all our daily nutrition needs from Swole Foods not from the fried and greasy soul foods.  Protein is one of the three macro nutrients we consume for energy.  When we consume protein, our body breaks it down into amino acids which is then used to build and grow our muscle fibers.  There are in total 20 amino acids our body uses.  11 of the 20 amino acids are produced in our own bodies call non essential amino acids.  There 9 amino acids call essential amino acids that our body cannot produce and must be acquired from foods.    

Proteins should make up 10%-35% of our daily calories.  1 gram of protein is 4 calories.  For example if you eat a 2000 calories diets, you need anywhere from 50-175 grams of protein per day.  Protein needs for each individual person varies.  People such as athletes, pregnant and breastfeed women, and vegetarians would need to consume more protein.  A rule to determine the minimum daily protein requirement you need per day is to calculate 0.8 grams per body weight in kilograms for a normal adult.  Which is about 58 grams of protein for a 160 pound adult.  People such as body builder consumes up to 1 gram of protein per body weight due to their greater protein needs.  Generally, 0.8 gram will be enough for normal and average adults.

Sources

These are examples of great sources of protein.  Keep in mind that the human body can only absorb about 30 grams of protein at once.  Any excess will be excreted out in urine or feces or stored as fat.  So consuming 100 grams of protein in one meal will not help you anymore than eating 30 grams in a meal.  In fact, if you care about your colon, I would suggest eating the correct amount of protein.  Also protein supplements such as protein shakes are not necessary to meet your protein requirements.  They are only use for convenience.  A well balance diet should be enough for your protein requirement.  Although there are some medical conditions that an individual can't get enough protein and will need to take supplements to meet their needs.