How protein can give your year a healthier start

(NC) For many of us, the new year is a time to set new wellness goals. Adding activity into your routine is a great way to meet those goals, but your body needs support if you’re going to stick to it and enjoy the benefits. A lifestyle that includes plenty of protein helps those starting a new active routine, as well as other everyday athletes. Here’s how:

Protein gives you energy. One key to creating a healthy routine you can stick to is maintaining your energy level. It keeps you motivated to stay active and helps power that activity. As a fuel, protein actually isn’t your body’s first choice. It prioritizes carbs, including sugars, but can burn through them quickly. Protein is a sustainable fuel, providing a backup source of energy, which can help keep you alert and active throughout the day.

Protein supports muscle growth. This is the most commonly known benefit of protein. A diet with plenty of protein helps your body make the most of an active, healthy routine that puts your muscles to work regularly. Increased physical activity sends signals to your body to grow those muscles, and they use the amino acids from the protein in your diet to do so. In turn, that makes you better able to keep up with your routine, or push yourself to do even more.

Protein helps keep you satisfied. One sometimes-overlooked health benefit of protein-forward meals and snacks is that they’re filling. There are two reasons for this:

• Protein lowers a hormone called ghrelin, one of your two “hunger hormones.” Ghrelin is the hormone that tells your body it’s time to eat—the other, leptin, tells your body it’s full.
• It takes more time and energy to digest protein than it does with fats or carbs. This means that the feeling of fullness from eating protein lasts longer.

By keeping you satisfied longer while reducing your impulse to keep eating, protein can help you eat less without hunger pangs or a crash in energy. That also allows for more flexibility around when and how protein fits into your meal and snack schedule, letting you fit it in on the go. There are options like the new Fresh Fit menu at Subway restaurants in Canada, which has a variety of high-protein, better-for-you sandwiches that are also full of veggies.

Surveys have found that as many as 71 per cent of Canadians are actively trying to get more protein. Given how well it can support a healthy, active lifestyle, it’s easy to see why.

Attention editors: here is an alternate evergreen headline + introduction

How protein can help your healthy new routine  

(NC) An active routine is a great way to meet your wellness goals, but your body needs support if you’re going to stick to it and enjoy the benefits. A lifestyle that includes plenty of protein helps people starting a new active routine, and other everyday athletes. Here’s how: