WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - The Healing Hour: Come and Get Your Protein

Episode Date: April 23, 2024

In this episode of The Healing Hour, Adriana and Erika discuss the health benefits of protein.

Hello and welcome to the Healing Hour on Radio Free Hillsdale, where we bring you your weekly dose of healing. I'm your host, Adriana Azarian. And I'm your co-host, Erica. And we're here to help you become your happiest, healthiest, fullest self. Today, we're going to be talking about the benefits of eating a high-protein diet. And we're going to look at a few ways that you can incorporate more protein into your diet. But before we do that, we will be discussing our healing. activity of the week.

Mm-hmm. Our healing moment for last week. We got coffee with our friend Elena. Shout out to Elena. We love her. And it was just really great. It's really important to like, we all have busy schedules, but like to reconnect with people, your friends that you love and take time and hang out with them.

And it's great. Like, you know, we don't live for homework or work alone. We live for community and connection with other people. So I feel like that's like one of the lessons I took from this. week is like how important that is and how fun it is when you do it. Just to catch up with someone you haven't talked to in a long time and realize how much can pass during a few months and just like get to know where they're at in life and get to know them better through that.

Yes. Very beautiful thing to do. So we encourage you if you're looking for some inspiration to get coffee with someone you haven't been able to spend enough time with lately. Yes. Go take that healing hour for yourself this week. Yes. And also if you're going to go to pennies, get a honey cinnamon latte.

Yes. We all got honey cinnamon latte. And it was so good. And if they're still selling the monster cookies, those are also really good. They're selling croissants on the weekends now. Are we allowed to advertise for them? This is not sponsored. It's not sponsored, but we love pennies. We do.

Go to pennies if you want. Yes. It's good. The great thing about croissants is that they're very tasty and buttery. They don't have much protein. That's true. Yeah. And what we're going to talk about today is protein.

Protein. So we found this article from Experience Life. It's called high protein diets, health benefits, and controversies. And it's by the entire lifetime health team together, group effort. It's beautiful. It's beautiful to see. They work together like amino acids, one can say. So good.

Someone took biology. So the article opens. What are the benefits of high protein diets? Are there risks? Are the risks exaggerations by alarmists or could you really eat too much protein? Okay, right off the bat, I feel like you can eat too much of anything. You know what I mean? Oh, 100%.

Yeah. Fats and carbohydrates have shared the nutrition spotlight for decades while protein is rarely discussed. That's too bad because it's this in microcontract. macronutrient that has the potential to transform your body the most. And then they go on to define what a high protein diet is. They said, what is a high protein

diet anyway? The definition depends on who you talk to. Researchers account for protein intake as a percentage of the diet's total calories or they measure it in grams based on weight. So for percentage-based protein intake, using percentages a higher

protein diet contains more than 15% of its total energy intake from protein. For example, a 2,000 calorie diet that includes more than 300 calories from protein would be higher protein. The Institute of Medicine set the acceptable macronutrient distribution range for protein at 10 to 35 percent of total calorie intake. So in most cases, a diet where protein calories exceed more than 35 to 35 percent is considered high protein. So there's kind of a threshold for like, and if you pass that threshold with like how much of your daily energy is coming from protein than you are on a high protein diet. Interesting. So I'm on a high protein diet. Yeah. I am.

So I started a high protein diet end of freshman year of college because I've talked about this before. I was eating a lot of carbohydrates and I felt sick all the time. I love carbohydrates, but I was sick and hungry all the time. And protein is very satisfying. And, and it's a lot of keeps you full for a lot longer. Protein takes a lot longer for your body to break it down. So you'll, so if you eat protein, you'll be a lot fuller for a lot longer than eating,

like I used to just have like oatmeal for lunch, which is like not going to hold you at all. It's just pure carbohydrates pretty much. So I started eating between 30 to 35 grams of protein at every meal that I possibly could. And I know people say like, oh, you know, $20 to 30 grams is fine. But I find that for me, if I don't eat between 30, at least 30 and 35, I get really hungry

really quickly. So it's more so at this point because I get really hungry if I don't eat a lot of protein. So I've been really emphasizing high protein and like upping my fat intake too because fat is the more satisfying nutrient protein makes you fuller for longer. And then carbs give you energy. Yeah. Which is great. So it's about finding your balance. But for me, it's been, protein's been the most life-changing, game-changing macronutrient. Yeah, it's important for sure. If you're just tuning in,

you are listening to The Healing Hour on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM with your host, Adriana Azarian. And your co-oh, sorry. Erica Kaiva. And we are talking about the benefits of a high-protein diet and how you kind of need that balance of all the different food groups. You need the protein to sustain you throughout the day, fat because it keeps you full and carbs to give you that quick boost of energy. And I don't think it's really good to eliminate any one of these groups because our body is kind of made for them. There is a lot of like in the fitness and diet world right now, protein's having its moment because people are realizing how good it is for muscle growth and muscle maintenance. For me, that's kind of why I started

eating it too was like to build muscle. And now I'm pretty swole. I think people are kind of done with that whole, you know, eat as little as you can sort of thing. They're trying to like eat enough that will keep them full. But also protein burns calories at rest, which is a great hack because if you're eating 100 grams of protein, I mean, for every gram of protein, your body burns one to 1.5 calories to digest it. So if you eat like 100 grams of protein a day or 130, 150, whatever, your body is burning that many calories just by digesting the food. It's kind of cool. It is very cool.

Yeah. Later on in the article, it's talking about weight-based protein intake. So the Institute of Medicine set the recommended daily intake for protein at 0.8 grams per kilogram body weight or 0.36 grams per pound body weight. They determined this level to be sufficient for 97.5% of the population to avoid deficiency. Said another way, 0.8 grams per kilogram body weight is an adequate amount of protein for most people to avoid disease. They're recommending protein

based on body weight. Okay. I don't know what else I can say about that. Just take your weight and multiply it by 0.8. Yep. And you got it. That's how much you should be eating. Erica, what's your favorite source of protein?

I am a huge red meat girl. Ooh. I love that iron. Okay. Well, I specifically, like, I come from a Brazilian family. Yes. And we like meat.

And we like red meat. a lot. Yes. And like one of the staples we'd have at home is beans, rice, and then my mom would make either ground beef or like a nice little steak filet and we would cut it up and mix it with the beans and rice and it was so good. So whenever I think about my favorite type of meat, I think about that. How do you like your steak cooked? Um, like when you get a steak. When I get a steak at a restaurant, generally, okay, it depends. I like it kind of like medium done. Okay. Medium well. My mom likes it well done. Sometimes I'll get it like well done. Hmm. Yeah. Because I don't like it when it's bleeding out everywhere. You know what I mean? I got you. Yeah. How about you? I'm a medium girlie. Yeah.

I used to be, I used to get grossed up by the blood, but the older that I get, the more I'm like, yeah. That's good stuff. It's juicy. Um, so. Yeah. I don't, it's not like the blood that bothers me. It's just like the idea that it might be a little raw. Oh. I'm like, mm. I got you. You know? I got you. Yeah. Um. Yeah. Yeah, no, I think that I'm iron deficient. I've self-diagnosed myself. But you eat so much protein. I do, but I don't really eat as much red meat as I should. You know, I realize, like, I don't think I've really eaten like that much meat at all this week, which is not healthy, you guys. Don't take my, don't follow my example. We're all growing. We're all trying to try your best. I'm not perfect. I'm still healing. We're all still trying to get better. But my favorite source of protein is Greek yogurt. Full fat Greek yogurt. None of this low fat, none of this non-fat stuff. I like the full fat. And if I want extra protein, which usually for breakfast, I try to aim for like 35 to 40 grams of protein or else I'll be starving.

I try to mix it with protein powder. Nice. So that's like 35 grams right there. And then if I add peanut butter, it's like 39 grams of protein. Do you feel that like you'd get less cravings throughout the day for like, because I know sometimes like if I'm not eating a lot of protein, like I'll want. I want chips or like, or I'm like, I want something sweet right now. Yeah. No.

Eating a high protein breakfast will help cut sweet cravings throughout the day and keep you full for longer. Like, if I have my Greek yogurt with protein powder or like oatmeal with protein powder, whatever, I will not be hungry until like one or two p.m. Oh, nice. And that's like eating breakfast at 8 a.m. So that really tides you over. Yeah. So, and this is coming from someone who like is just starving constantly. So the protein really has helped with that and keeping me from overeating during the day and eating too many sweet things.

Yes. But no, protein is essential for balancing your blood sugar because if you eat just carbs, you're going to get a blood sugar spike. So it's really important to have fat and protein with your carbs. Carbs are not the enemy, but you should have them with something. So your blood sugar doesn't spike and then make you crave things later. Mm-hmm. You know? It's also just expensive because they're just eating food all the time.

It's like, you know, you have to pay more money for that food. So, you know, it all comes back to money. If you're just tuning in, you are listening to The Healing Hour on Radio Free Hillsdale, 101.7 FM with Adriana Azarian and Erica Kaiba. And we are looking at benefits of a high protein diet. In this Experience Life article, magazine article, they mention weight loss, first of all, which we kind of touched on before. It says high protein diets are more effective than other diets for the maintenance of weight after weight loss. Low protein diets are more likely to lead to weight gain and obesity. Protein is like a shutoff switch for your brain.

If you don't eat it, you'll have an insatiable appetite, which we both find is the case. Yes. The second point benefit is satiety. So we kind of talked about that as well, like our personal experience. But from the scientific side, it says, protein stimulates the release of the hormones. I can't pronounce that. We are not doctors, you guys.

Colocycchycinin or something like that. PYY and GLP1, which reduce feelings of hunger, as well as increased satiety, prolonging the amount of time before hunger returns. The hormones act on the nervous system and alter signals in the brain about food needs. So that's very good.

And you can meet your needs for protein by eating a moderate amount of meat, fish, poultry, et cetera. Or you can meet your protein needs by eating an enormous amount of low protein, high carb, high fat, high processed food. Which you don't want to do. Not the move. Don't do it. Yeah. In one study, teenage girls who ate a high protein breakfast experienced less hunger and improved satiety. Compared with a normal protein breakfast or no breakfast, the high protein breakfast activated areas of the limbic regions of the brain and reduced activity.

in the anterior insula and the middle prefrontal cortex. So don't send your kids to school after eating a bunch of carbs and then expect them to eat a healthy lunch later on. That's really interesting. Yeah, because it also ties in that breakfast is really important. It is, in fact, the most important meal of the day. So it's like the most important to get a high level of protein too. I mean, it really sets you up.

You know what I mean? Oh, yeah. I don't think like you can really like skip breakfast and like, I don't know. What do you have for breakfast, Eric? I like getting an omelet at the cafeteria. Eggs. That's a great source of protein. Yes.

Eggs are so good. If you don't have the time, like yogurt. Yes. Yogurt is so good. Yogurt and honey and berries. Ah, yes. Okay. So here's the qualm that I have with people who fast.

And I think I actually have a whole lot of ideas on fasting. And I'd love to do an episode on that in the future. But I think especially for women, because when we don't eat for long periods of time, our cortisol levels get high and that can lead to actually gaining weight because, you know, your body wants to hang on to fat when you're stressed. But I think especially for women, we should not be skipping breakfast because it does set you up for the day. And also having high enough protein helps you regulate your hormones. So it's really important that you don't skip breakfast, if you can, and have a high protein breakfast that will really help you not only like

meet fitness goals, but just like, be healthy. Like, this is what you need to do to be healthy and to be, um, prepared for your day, basically. And, like, like, longevity and all that. Yeah. And I like, I get where people are coming from if they're like just not hungry in the morning. Because like, fasting, it's like, okay, don't do that on purpose.

Like, that's not good for your body. But like, what do you do if it's like, I woke, I just woke up. I like don't want to eat anything right now. Eat something right now. Yeah. Sometimes, like, I find. that way too, especially if I'm like sleep deprived. So my body like still thinks that I'm like in bed and does not want to eat anything. But if I just eat like an apple and go to class, I'm starving by 11.

And that's not a good situation to be in. Yeah. And sometimes you just have to train your metabolism to want to be hungry in the morning. I used to not eat breakfast. But I had to kind of get myself out of that habit. And now I wake up and I'm hungry. Yeah. But that's something like a sign of a healthy metabolism is one where you wake up after not eating all night. And like, if you go through like 10 hours, whatever, during the day, not eating, you're going to get hungry. So your body should also react similarly at night. So it just kind of comes down to how you train your body to react to hunger and fullness.

Yeah. Having a regular sleep schedule, getting enough sleep, being fully awake when you eat, which coffee can help with that. Yes. These are all things. I would recommend waiting two hours after waiting up to have coffee, waking up to have coffee. Yeah. But that's a conversation for a different episode. You guys, we're just realizing how much wisdom we're full of and we're just overflowing with it right now.

Yes. Yes. And if you're just tuning in to all this wisdom that we definitely have with all of our years and years of life experience. Our combined 40 years of life experience. Oh, yeah. Yes. Well, we're talking about the health benefits of protein and you're listening to the healing hour on. Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. We're reading an article about the possible benefits of a high protein diet. Third on the list is muscle growth and maintenance. It says higher protein diets support the maintenance or growth of muscle and lean body mass. I understand the idea of muscle growth might bring up mental images of bodybuilders and weightlifters. For some, that's cool. For others, it's a turnoff. Either way, you can get the image out of your mind. Muscle is critical for everyone.

the way I describe it is. Muscle is quality of life insurance. The more you have naturally, the better your chances of extending your quality of life late into life. Yeah. I mean, it doesn't have to be about getting swole. It's just like your body starts losing muscle, I think, after 30 or 35 years old.

So if you want to maintain, you know, youthful energy and whatnot, then, you know, muscle maintenance is very important. Yeah. for sure. I mean, you could get swole like me. Yeah, but like the other interesting thing is like you want to avoid the phenomenon of the quote unquote skinny fat, which is something I'd heard before and it comes up in the article here. It says when I was personal training, I could often pick out the people who followed a low calorie weight watchers like diet. Such a diet steered people toward low calorie, low protein foods.

As they lost weight, they lost a lot of muscle as well and became quote unquote skinny fat. Even though their scale weight went down, they still had a pretty high body fat percentage. Yeah. No. I think the problem with diets, most diets, low calorie diets, is that, like, yeah, you'll lose weight, but it's not the weight you want to lose because you're losing muscle and some fat too. But when it, you know, it's not about choosing the lowest calorie options, using the most satisfying option over time that's going to get you the results that you need. Mm-hmm. So that usually includes high protein, a moderate amount of fat and the carbs. Anyhow, don't be afraid of protein. Protein is your friend. We actually didn't get through most of the article. So I'm kind of thinking maybe next week.

Oh, part two. Tune it again. Part two, the benefits and protein. Potential controversies. And this time we'll actually get to how you can incorporate it into your diet. Oh, my gosh. I'm so excited to talk about this. Yes. Okay. So we can't wait to see you guys next week. Thank you for tuning in. Always a pleasure. Oh, and if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.

Or personal problems. Feel free to email us at your dose of healing at gmail.com. That's your dose of healing at gmail.com. And we will be more than happy to answer your questions. Oh, yes. Until next time. Until next time. Thanks for tuning in.