The Easy Way to make High-Protein Meals

The “High-Protein” movement really has taken the world of diet and fitness by storm; high-protein breads, high-protein yoghurt, high-protein candy... you name it, there’s probably a high protein version of it.

Don’t get me wrong, protein is great: it helps to keep you feeling full so you can stick to a diet {1}, it has a higher Thermic Effect of Food than fats or carbs so it raises your metabolic rate more {2} and adequate protein is essential for building muscle and maintaining it while dieting {3-5}. All said, protein is a fantastic macronutrient and you should do what you can to get enough into your diet.

Well, if you’re exercising regularly and want to get the most out of your performance, 1.8g/kg of lean body mass (LBM) is probably a good intake for most people (some will need less, some need more) {6,7}. Eating more protein than that is definitely not an issue either so in reality you don’t have to worry about eating too much {5,8}.

So if a diet high in protein is so damn great, what’s the problem? Believe me, there are a few.

Protein is easily the most expensive macronutrient. On a price/calorie basis, protein rich foods are much more expensive than carbohydrate foods or oils and fats. A lot of this has to do with the fact that many high protein foods are animal-based and raising animals requires a lot of money. Just think in the difference in price for a serving of steak or chicken and a serving of potatoes, pasta or the oil used to prepare it. You pay much more for the protein.

On top of that, “high-protein” foods are often far more expensive than their regular, low-protein counterparts. A loaf of high protein bread can easily sell for 3 times the price of a regular loaf. So, unless you have plenty of disposable income, filling your cupboards with high protein versions of your favorite foods is probably not an option.

I’ll admit, the flavor of high-protein products is continually improving but in many cases, the high-protein version just doesn’t taste as good as the original. High-protein baked goods often feel too dense and dry, high protein pastas often have a strange texture and aftertaste and some high-protein ready meals would be better off used as foundation material for building construction.

Sometimes, going to the trouble of reinventing a recipe to make it high in protein can be a real pain in the backside. Even increasing the quantity of one protein source in a meal can make the meal less enjoyable if you’re trying to control for calories too with less sauces/oils etc., meaning there is less flavor spread out of more food.

A perfect example of this are beans. If I want to get a decent amount of protein from beans alone I need to eat a heck of a lot of beans which is both time consuming and a little bit boring. With some foods too, the low amount of protein/calorie means you can easily go over calories before getting enough protein which means they aren’t the most convenient protein option. For more information on the best protein per calorie foods, click here.

Many high-protein food products are fortified with lower quality proteins such as collagen or even plant proteins like soy or rice. While this may not be too important for most people who just want to increase their total protein intake, for athletes or people trying to get the absolute most out of their training and build the most muscle, higher quality protein sources (like dairy) may be better {9}.

Not at all. In most cases they’re a great idea purely from a time and convenience perspective (provided that they taste good and are affordable). On top of that, they can add a whole lot of variety to a diet, which might make it more tolerable in the long run. I also love coming up with high-protein recipes because I love cooking so it’s not a problem for me.

However, there is a much simpler, cheaper and more convenient way to increase your protein intake.

Imagine the scene.

You’re on a diet, your calories are pretty low, you want to get enough protein into your lunch but you don’t want to fill a sandwich with 2 whole, dry, boring chicken breasts. You want a nice sandwich, maybe with a little bit of cheese, maybe some nice tomato relish, a little bit of cooked ham, some lettuce… you know a regular sandwich.

The only problem is, once you’ve made it up, you realize it’s still a little low in protein. What do you do? Do you switch the bread for a high-protein version, do you take out the cheese and add another chicken breast? They’re all perfectly viable options but there is a much simpler way.

Have a protein shake!

Yeah, that’s it! Scoop, Twist, Shake, Drink! It couldn’t be easier, more convenient or cheaper… and you still get to enjoy your regular meal, no matter what it is.

Sandwich + Protein Shake = High Protein Meal

Salad + Protein Shake = High Protein Meal

Ice Cream + Protein Shake = High Protein Meal

Banana + Protein Shake = High Protein Meal

There are a lot of advantages to using protein shakes to supplement your daily protein:

• Cheap (protein powders can work out much cheaper than other protein sources)
• Fast (it literally takes seconds to down a shake)
• High quality protein (for example, whey, one of the most common protein powders, is the highest quality protein you can buy)
• Convenient (you can carry a shaker with you any where and it’s much more normal to see them in public)

I talk about exactly why protein powders are such a great option, especially on lower calorie diets, here.

You don't need to change your diet drastically to make it high protein. You just need to supplement it in the truest sense of the word. Making high protein meals is fine when you have time and money isn’t an issue. But sometimes, just to make things easier, a shake will do absolutely fine. Like downing a shake before you go out for a nice meal with your significant other or grabbing one when you’re late for work.

Eating high protein doesn't have to be a complicated affair. Make your life easier and keep that protein shaker at hand.

Eat well, folks.

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9. Volek JS, Volk BM, Gómez AL, Kunces LJ, Kupchak BR, Freidenreich DJ, et al. Whey protein supplementation during resistance training augments lean body mass. J Am Coll Nutr. 2013;32(2):122–35.

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