In other words, a snack is any food you eat that you don’t consider a meal.
Cubed watermelon on a hot afternoon? A refreshing snack
Those chocolate-chip granola bars you keep in your car? Snack
Your post-workout protein shake? Snack
An evening bag of popcorn? A delicious snack
A little bit of salad leftover from lunch? Also a snack
An apple with peanut butter? Snack
Bag of chips from the vending machine at work? That is a snack
Leftover rotisserie chicken you eat cold right out of the refrigerator because you needed a little something? Definitely a snack
Cup of milky tea and a muffin in the afternoon? One of my favorite snacks
What should you eat for a snack? That depends on what you have available, why you’re eating a snack, what sounds good, so many different factors. We can talk about that more later. But don’t worry about if foods fall into the “snack” category.
Snacking for real humans part 1:
Any food can be a snack
Don’t overthink it 🙂 What do you like to snack on?
When dietitians speak about eating protein, or “proteins”, they usually mean eating foods like these, that have a lot of protein in them.
Image used with permission by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
But what is protein actually? Proteins are large and complex molecules made out of different combinations of amino acids. Amino acids are like the LEGO blocks that make up proteins.
Amino acids combine in nearly endless ways to create nearly endless different types of protein. These proteins are the building blocks that make up animals, plants, bacteria, viruses, and humans.
When we eat foods with protein, our bodies take apart the protein into the amino acids it’s made from (like you might take apart a LEGO structure) and use those amino acids to build new proteins in our bodies that become hair, skin, muscle, hormones, mitochondria, etc.
Our bodies use 20 different amino acids to build the proteins it needs. Nine of these amino acids we must get from the food we eat. The other eleven our bodies can manufacture, but we can also get them from food.
That’s why its so important to eat enough foods with protein in them, so our body has all the materials it needs to grow, maintain bones and muscles, make hormones and neurotransmitters, and heal itself, among many many other things.
Our bodies can also burn protein for energy. If we have enough protein for our building needs, our bodies take the extra protein and either burn it for energy or, if it already has enough energy, will store it as fat for future energy.
On the other hand, if we are not eating enough to meet our energy needs, (and especially if we are also not eating enough protein) our bodies will begin to break down the protein in our muscles to use for energy. Of course, it will also begin to break down stored fat, but most weight loss involves some muscle loss.
Now you know what protein is, but how should you eat it? How much should you eat? What are “lean” proteins? What are plant-based proteins?
Check back next week for the answers! Do you have other questions about protein? Leave it in the comments and I’ll try and incorporate it into next week’s post.
(Sorry, this wasn’t an intentional cliff hanger, it just seemed better to break it up rather than doing a super long post!)
If you want to see a list of foods that have protein, click here.
This post is a list of foods that provide protein. This list is for you if:
you’re not sure which foods have protein,
you are tired of the protein foods you are eating and want to find different ones,
you’re looking to add more protein to your diet and need ideas
Keep reading to find some new protein foods to try!
Poultry
Chicken breast
Chicken thighs
Chicken drumstick
Chicken wings
Chopped or shredded chicken
Ground chicken
Canned chicken
Chicken feet
Turkey, white and dark meat
Shredded or chopped turkey
Sliced deli turkey
Ground turkey
Turkey jerky
Turkey bacon
Duck
Pheasant
Liver and organ meats (pretty much any kind)
Eggs and Dairy
Eggs
Milk
Soy milk
Goat milk
Sheep milk
Cheese (pretty much any kind except cream cheese)
Cottage cheese
Goat cheese
Sheep cheese
Yogurt
Kefir
Beans/Lentils/Pulses
Black beans
Pinto beans
Kidney beans
Lentils
French lentils
Split peas
White beans
Lima beans
Garbanzo beans/chickpeas
Hummus
Tofu
Tempeh
Meat
Pork chops
Pork loin
Pork shoulder
Ground pork
Ham
Bacon
Canadian bacon
Sausage
Bologna
Salami
Ground beef
Roast beef
Corned beef
Hot dog
Hamburger
Steak
Beef roast
Beef jerky
Bison
Elk
Venison
Lamb
Mutton
Various Plant Proteins
Almonds
Walnuts
Peanuts
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Cashews
Pistachios
Pecans
Nut butters
Soy milk
Quinoa (at least 1 cup)
Seitan
Meat substitutes like veggie burgers or vegetarian sausage (always check the label for protein content)
Edamame
Sprouted peas
Green peas (1 cup)
Grilled Portobello mushroom (1 cup)
A word about protein powders: Many people find protein powders helpful, however I haven’t included them separately because most of them are made from one of the foods listed above like milk, eggs, soy, or peas.
These foods, in a typical serving size, provide at least 10% of the recommended daily amount of protein (%DV). Note that many of them provide much more than 10% and that the the %DV is based on a very general figure. This post does not give serving sizes or recommend amounts of protein to eat. Protein needs vary widely, and there is a wide amount of protein intake that can be healthy! If you have questions about how much protein you need, speak with a registered dietitian or your doctor!
