Why protein is so important

At Zing Wellbeing, we focus on women's health and wellness.

We take a holistic view to health and we see food as medicine.

And protein is a vital part to our health - and we have so many high protein recipes to choose from to help you be in your best health possible - and you can see them all in our Zing Wellbeing Program.

Why Protein is so important

Protein is made up of building blocks called amino acids which help our body to repair. Protein is also key in regulating our hormones and enzymes as well as essential for satiety – when we feel full happy and content with what we have eaten (and can kick those cravings to the curve!).

We Aussies are obsessed with protein! However, when we think about protein we often think meat, cheese, dairy milks and eggs.

And sure, these will be at the top of the list but did you know that some plant foods, nuts and seeds pack more protein than a burger?

For example:

• 100g peanut butter delivers 26g protein
• 100g pumpkin seeds or pepitas delivers 26g protein
• 100g almonds or pistatios delivers 23g protein
• 100g cashews gives us 21g protein
• And 100g of the humble chia seed or tahini gives us 20g protein

If we look at meat, chicken is amongst the highest in protein with nearly 33g per 100g followed by beef at 27g, pork at 22g and duck at 19g.

When we stack these against some of the vego sources above you can see they are still in the running. 

When we look at vegetables we start to move into a more carbohydrate based food group, although some vegetables are considered high protein they sit between 3-4% protein, which seems low compared to our meat and nuts and seeds.

However, their power comes from being combined with other high quality sourced of protein.

High protein plant based foods tend to come from the lentil and bean family such as lentils themselves, split peas, fava beans, chickpeas, cannellini beans with anywhere from 6-20% protein.

Animal proteins tend to be considered better sources of proteins because they are higher in protein overall but also because we have a higher digestibility or ability to break them down in our gastro-intestinal tract.

Best proteins

Some of the best proteins to enjoy are those that are whole foods which are unprocessed and free of additives.

Such as leans meats, fish, legumes, beans, eggs and god quality dairy sources.

A good quality plant based protein powder can also go a long way to adding to your intake on a daily basis.

High protein snacks

Include delicious whole foods which are easy to grab and go options which are packed with protein such as;

• Trail mix full of nuts and seeds
• Boiled eggs,
• Veggies and dips such as hummus,
• Meat patties,
• Salmon balls,
• Tuna,
• Smoothies,
• Yoghurt,
• Nuts butters and veggie sticks
• Homemade bliss balls and granola.

And if you are looking for high protein recipes then our high protein meal plan is perfect for you and you can access this as well as all our meal plans and recipes in our Zing Wellbeing Program