The Fasination With Protein and How To Eat It

The people of the United States are completely obsessed with consuming large amounts of protein but no one seems too concerned about getting other important vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients that their bodies desire and crave. Protein is the one nutrient that Americans get enough or too much of on an everyday basis.

The average person is under the misguided notion that you need protein in every meal in order to be full. You can't just have a meal without meat because then you won't get full and you won't get your recommended amount of protein in your diet. This is completely untrue and I think people are not willing to see that it's untrue because people never want to change things (especially their eating habits) and they simply want to be right (no one wants to be doing the wrong thing, particularly to their bodies).

The average American will consume almost a days worth of protein at breakfast such as

• Eggs
• Bacon
• Ham
• Toast
• Sausage

The idea that people think that they need meat (or the equivalent of) at every meal do not know that they can get protein from other non-meat sources. Instead of having meat for dinner every night or during the day for lunch, there are other ways to get the protein in your diet and still feel full without having meat. Now I'm not going to tell you to eat meat substitutes completely soy based and processed to high heaven...no...I'm recommending whole grains and vegetables found in nature that aren't processed and have the dreaded soy protein.

At lunch time instead of eating a greasy-old burger or chicken sandwich covered in mayo, try eating a portabella mushroom. These mushrooms have the texture and consistency of a meat patty and they taste great. Again, the portabella mushroom naturally contains fiber and a substantial amount of protein (all natural, or should I say from Nature!). I think the easiest way to cook up a mushroom for lunch is to bring out the good old trusty handy dandy Forman Grill. You can spray the mushroom on both sides with any cooking spray (preferably canola oil spray) or you can lightly put olive oil on both sides. It cooks in the grill for about five minutes or so and it's easier to make than a hamburger or chicken sandwich any day of the week.

One of the greatest complete whole grains that I recently discovered and I am obsessed with is Quinoa (keen-wah). This grain is great because you can have it at dinner with some sauteed vegetables or in substitute for rice in most dishes and get the same amount of protein that you would get in any meat product. There are no other ingredients such as soy protein in Quinoa, there is just simply Quinoa whole grains in the ingredient list (shocking only one ingredient!). The reason why Quinoa has the amount of protein that it does is because it is a complete protein, unlike other products that contain soy protein. In order to be a complete protein, Quinoa has a balanced essential amount of amino acids. Quinoa is also a great source of fiber, iron, and magnesium. The fiber in Quinoa along with the protein will make you feel fuller than eating beef or poultry. So next time you think you need meat at dinner to feel full and get your protein fix, make Quinoa and put down the chicken wing for a change.