If you haven't noticed, the term 'high in protein' has become a common buzzword with all of the diets that are becoming popular these days. If you have been following Dashing Dish for a while, you probably know that I don't support diets, but I do recommend incorporating protein rich foods into your daily meals and snacks!

You may notice that most of my recipes are high in protein, and often times I even supplement my recipes with protein powder. My recipes are also naturally lower in simple carbohydrates, due to the fact that my recipes don't contain flour, sugar, or processed ingredients. I personally have found that eating this way (a balance of protein, and healthy fats/carbohydrates) makes my body function and feel it's best, all while helping maintain a healthy weight.

Now, you may be wondering, when it comes to health, and weight loss/maintenance, what are the actual benefits of protein? Well, i'm glad you asked!

Here are five benefits to adding protein rich foods to your diet:

1. Foods high in protein help you feel full, and more satisfied for longer periods of time. In general, protein rich foods take your body a long time to break down and digest, which means it keeps you feeling fuller longer.

2. Protein helps balance out blood sugar swings. Pairing protein with carbohydrates in a meal or snack slows down the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream, which helps balance your blood sugar, preventing insulin spikes that can lead to fat storage and cravings.

3. Protein helps preserve muscle tissue during weight loss. A part of the weight loss process includes losing not only fat tissue, but muscle tissue as well. The reason for this is because during weight loss, your body looks to burn not only fat, but protein for energy (in order to synthesize glucose, which is used for energy). When you make sure that your protein intake is sufficient through your diet, your body will be less likely to break down your muscle tissue as a source of protein used for energy.

4. Protein aids in muscle recovery. The problem with losing muscle is that it is increases your basal metabolic rate (BMR), which accounts for over two-thirds of calories burned at rest. Protein is comprised of amino acids, which helps spare lean muscle during weight loss, so the body can burn more fat (instead of muscle) for energy.

5. Protein can help you maintain your weight long term. It requires more energy to digest protein, which means that our bodies burn calories just breaking it down! This is called the thermic effect of food (TEF), or the energy we use to digest food into small, absorbable components. In addition, as I mentioned above, protein aids in preserving lean muscle also helps with long term weight maintenance!

A few important things I want to mention is that consuming more protein alone won't make you lose or maintain weight. Any macronutrient (fat, protein, carbs) still has calories, and at the end of the day, if you are consuming more calories than your body requires, you will have a hard time losing or maintaining weight...(And eating too few calories also has an negative effect on your weight- so remember, slow and steady wins the race!) The key is truly a balance of protein, healthy fats, whole grains, and proper exercise that leads to a healthy body.

That being said, how do you know how much protein you should have in a day? A general rule of thumb is 1 gram of protein per 1 lb of body weight. However, that may vary based on your exercise, age, gender, etc. but using this basic formula is generally enough for the average person.

If you are looking for ways to implement more protein into your diet, Dashing Dish is a great place to start, where all of my recipes are high in protein, with the proper balance of healthy fats, and whole grains! Also, be sure to check out my new cookbook, Dashing Dish: 100 Simple Recipes for Clean Eating, which is packed with 100 delicious and simple protein packed recipes!