7 Best High-Protein Foods To Reduce Abdominal Fat It’s no secret that protein is critical for longevity, performance, mental clarity, and even longevity. But increasing protein in your diet isn’t always as easy as it seems on paper. You may think that adding a couple of ounces of meat or doing this or that will do the trick. Still, there are many different ways to get there and what we must do or do this or that. Still, there are a lot of different ways to get there, and what we have to remember is that it’s a very, very, very delicate balance between muscle protein synthesis and muscle protein breakdown. If we are not finding equilibrium and being slightly in surplus or suitable where we need to be, then all bets are off, and you’re catabolizing. You’re not just not building muscle, but you’re actually breaking down, so the requirements for protein aren’t all that much; generally speaking, it comes down to about 0 across the board. In terms of protein per kilogram of body weight, it isn’t much, but it’s a minimum standard, especially if you are active. If you don’t get the recommended amount, you’ll run into problems. Protein is essential because it’s a hallmark of maintaining muscle, which is a hallmark of preserving youth. So, let’s take a look at some ways to increase protein.
Introduction
Hi, my name is Dr.Ali Bilal.
• Holistic Natural Health Doctor
• Education in Nutrition, Neurology, Physiology
7 Best High-Protein Foods To Reduce Abdominal Fat
1. Hard Boiled Egg
Add a hard-boiled egg. Okay, now I mean, you think, okay, sure, that’s easy enough. I could have thought of that alone; I didn’t need a video, but people forget you don’t need much like one egg. It will give you seven or eight grams of protein depending on the size, but we have to factor in the complete amino acid profile. This plays such a critical role; if you have lower-quality proteins, you’re not providing yourself with the essential amino acids you need to synthesize new tissue and repair the list there. Still, it would be best if you remembered that something needs to be cooked right, so hard-boiled eggs usually have a 90 absorption rate when it comes down to bioavailability. In contrast, if you eat like a raw egg, it’s like a 50 absorption rate. In contrast, a lot of meats are even going to be between 70 and 80. so eggs have a very high absorption rate, but that one’s pretty simple
2. Spirulina Powder
One tablespoon of spirulina contains four to five grams of protein, so you might think it’s some weird vegan thing that only vegans care about. If you look at a 100-gram serving of spirulina, it contains 126 per cent as much protein as a 100-gram serving of beef. That means 57 grams are contained in a 100-gram serving. Five grams of protein compared to a 100-gram serving of meat is only about 25 to 26 grams of protein. Does that mean that it’s better than beef no, I’m not saying that at all, but the exciting thing with spirulina is that spirulina is as complete of an amino acid profile as eggs, so you have a complete protein, but it’s also highly nutrient dense with lots of vitamins such as vitamin B and vitamin A. Ultimately it is mighty for me but you know we’re always trying to find ways to add protein in so it’s kind of a different mechanism and again bang for the buck it fits the bill however you really can’t absorb more than like 15 to 20 grams of spirulina at a given time so if you’re looking to add maybe 20 30 grams of protein throughout the day simply adding a tablespoon of spirulina to like each of your meals could be a quick way to get a 20 bump in your protein intake while also getting some good minerals and getting some vitamins in the process
3. Between Meal Snack
People don’t think about a lot either in between meals simply having some kind of good quality like venison stick or turkey stick or even a good beef stick i put a link down below for chomp sticks these guys have been my go-to when it comes down to any kind of meat stick for i don’t even know how long they’re like one of the original sponsors on my channel they’ve been around for a long time i’m good friends with the owner he’s a super cool dude and the thing that i love i love their venison sticks the most it’s because venison is such a good quality meat and in my opinion it just tastes really good too but in my opinion it’s just one of the best meats that you can have that doesn’t mean that you have to go with the venison then they have the turkey sticks which are significantly less calories so if you’re trying to keep the fat content a little bit lower the turkey sticks are great and then they’re good old classic beef sticks and they have some that are also flavored with sea salt so you get that really good well-rounded flavor the cool thing is with chomps like you could cut them up and you can add them to a salad and the next thing you know you’ve added anywhere from 10 to 20 grams of protein depending on how many you add you could put them on a pizza you could put them in soup or you could just eat them straight up so it’s a simple way to add protein that is a very complete protein that is also just dang delicious so i put a link down below for chomps so you can check them out you can get a special discount and get some shipped to your doorstep i highly recommend that you try either the venison or even their new turkey pepperoni ones are super awesome and they have no hidden nasties no weird stuff in it it’s gmo project verified really cool stuff all grass-fed as well
4. Greek Yogurt
Good old-fashioned greek Yogurt now the exciting thing about greek Yogurt is the combination of whey and casein proteins you’re not looking a ridiculous amount of protein but you’re looking like a 200 gram serving getting you maybe 20 grams of protein what makes it unique though isn’t the fact that it has protein in it it has a lovely delicate blend of casein and whey whey protein we know the apparent thing there but casein is interesting because it can help the absorption of calcium if it’s coming from a whole food form okay so when you’re taking in dairy that has obviously calcium in it you want the absorption of the calcium to occur and you need good quality casein proteins coming from good quality dairy predominantly a2 formed area if you can okay that’s going to increase the absorption of the calcium if you have too much calcium in the bloodstream this could be a problem but also if you’re absorbing your calcium it reduces the impact on what’s called the parathyroid so if the parathyroid detects that you’re low in calcium because you’re not drinking it it’s going to increase the release of calcium from the bones which is a not good for your bones but b can actually play a role in the accumulation of visceral fat it’s a story for a different day and i’ve done other articles on that topic point is is a little bit of casein in an excellent whole food form is good i don’t recommend a casein protein directly like a powder casein from an entire food dairy form is quite good in a small amount.
5. Pistachios
Pistachios okay, pistachios catch a terrible wrap generally because they are higher carbohydrate compared to most nuts, so people think, oh well, there’s not enough that I want; there are too many carbs in it; well, first of all, it’s predominantly fibre so you don’t have to worry about that too much, but the cool thing about pistachios is they are one of the lowest-calorie nuts okay we’re talking like 155-ish calories per one-ounce serving compared to say almonds cashews which are closer to 175 180. so that plays a significant role but additionally we’re talking about protein here okay one of the highest protein if not the highest protein nuts we’re talking like seven to eight grams of protein in a serving so that’s a good amount of protein coming from pistachios but you know what’s what’s a bunch of protein if you’re coming in with a bunch of calories and fat right well pistachios are one of the lower fat nuts hence the lower calorie content but in addition to that a lot of the fats get trapped inside the cell wall of a pistachio which means they don’t actively absorb in our bodies now the numbers are all over the place but just hypothetically speaking if there was 10 grams of fat and you were to consume that maybe you only absorb seven of it because three of it remains trapped within the cell walls and then you just excrete that out so that is a phenomenal thing when it comes down to just the overall impact of the protein that you’re taking in but there was a really cool study published in the european journal of clinical nutrition taking a look at pistachios they found that when subjects consumed two ounces of pistachios alongside a higher carb meal this attenuated the glycemic response of that high carb meal by 20 to 30 percent so that could be from the protein it could be from the fats but given the fat absorption issue with pistachios i’m more inclined to think it’s coming from the protein which is just a massive thing so pistachios as far as nuts are concerned it’s probably one of the best bets that you can go
6. Chia Seeds
Chia seeds are okay again, with a complete amino acid profile and an excellent breakdown. They contain five to six grams of protein in a tablespoon, are easy to add to the diet, keep you satiated and have a better ratio of omega-3 to omega-6, so you’re not risking that potential inflammatory effect of the omega-6s that is consistently talked about whether true or not.
7. Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin seeds are my favorite seeds outside of the protein thing because they’re super high in zinc super high in magnesium and they just pack a powerful punch as far as minerals go but when it comes to protein they’re also a complete amino acid profile okay they have a really good selection they have all nine essential amino acids exactly what we’re looking for the cool thing is the fat content half of it is omega-3s now i know what you’re thinking oh cool i’m going to get omega-3s like i’m getting from salmon no it’s going to be alpha linoleic acid which does not have the same effect as like an animal based uh echospindenoic acid or docosahexaenoic acid does but you do get a powerful benefit given that that means that there are less omega-6s in this nut normally omega-6s are what are causing kind of the issue if we over consume nuts so at least we’re reducing and modulating that a little bit by just reducing the amount of fats that are omega-6s there’s also some pretty cool glucose lowering effects that come with pumpkin seeds and it probably has to do with the magnesium content there was a study published in the journal diabetes care took a look at 127 000 participants and it found that those that consumed the highest amount of magnesium compared to those that consumed the lowest amount of magnesium had significantly less risk like a 30 less risk of developing type 2 diabetes now mechanistically what’s going on here is it’s allowing the cells to utilize or be responsive to insulin much better okay now there’s another study that’s published in the journal diabetes care that took a look at the mechanistic action here when they gave subjects supplemental magnesium they found that at first their magnesium levels actually decreased indicating that possibly the magnesium was getting taken up into the cell and then after that it gradually increased in the plasma the reason that this had a positive impact on insulin sensitivity is it affected the receptor for insulin on the cell so in subjects that had lower levels of magnesium they found that they had a reduced autophosphoryl in what’s called the beta subunit of an insulin receptor basically making it so the insulin receptor on a cell wasn’t working very well if they were deficient in magnesium by restoring magnesium to healthy levels that improved so that means that there’s a potential improvement with insulin sensitivity and since pumpkin seeds are so high in magnesium this is a very very solid link there but a couple that with the high protein content again we’re trying to look at things that give us the bang for the buck with the protein and also the glucose attenuation
Disclaimer
The information provided in this post is based on Dr.Ali Bilal’s professional knowledge and experience in medicine & nutrition. It is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with your healthcare provider for personalized advice concerning your health condition. Readers are encouraged to seek professional medical advice and guidance from qualified healthcare professionals regarding their health concerns.
Dr.Ali Bilal
• Holistic Natural Health Doctor
• Education in Nutrition, Neurology, Physiology