Why Women Need Protein
It doesn’t matter if you’re at the gym to lose weight, gain muscle, or just maintain a healthy lifestyle, your workout will benefit from an increased intake of protein. Protein is made up of 20 Amino Acids and 9 of them can’t be produced by our bodies.
If we aren’t consuming those essential amino acids, we aren’t getting them. Along with lipids and carbohydrates, complete proteins are essential building blocks of any healthy body and we simply aren’t getting enough. But getting enough isn’t always that easy. Adding more meat to your diet can be expensive or heavy, and so many protein supplements boast big, bulky muscles that aren’t always what you’re aiming for. Don’t let the marketing fool you: the best protein supplements for women are the same as the best protein supplements for men, and the benefits are even better.
Benefits of Protein for Women
Lean Muscles
Despite what the labeling of protein supplements may suggest, protein doesn’t magically turn you into a bodybuilder. While protein is absolutely essential for muscle growth and maintenance, its primary function is strengthening lean muscle, not blowing up the muscle you already have. With healthy lean muscle, your body is tighter and slimmer. But aside from looking more fit, you actually are more fit. Your muscles becomes stronger, not bigger. Supplementing with protein has been shown to increase strength and endurance, making your workouts longer and more efficient. Using a whey protein supplement will help tone, lengthen, and strengthen muscles all over your body.
Healthy Immune System
Performing at peak level means being able to actually perform. Nothing messes up a diet or training plan quite like a cold, and the best way to fight a cold is to start with a healthy immune system. Increasing your protein is an incredibly effective way to give your disease fighting antibodies a boost. Taking a hydrolyzed whey protein supplement is the fastest way to absorb glutathione, which detoxifies the body. It’s also a key player in healthy cell regrowth in the immune system and throughout the entire body. Increasing your body’s ability to fight disease will benefit so much more than your workouts. Just getting sick less leads to a happier, more fulfilling life all around.
Weight Loss
The hardest part about dieting is wanting to eat. Whether it’s craving sweets or just limiting your caloric intake, it’s hard to shake that feeling of emptiness when your stomach growls. If you want to continue to eat healthy but avoid that obnoxious craving, protein is the answer. Compared to carbs and fats, protein takes longer to digest, leaving you feeling fuller longer. Limiting yourself to rabbit food doesn’t help at all when you’re craving something more 30 minutes later. If you make sure your salad has a healthy portion of lean meat with it, or if you start your day with a good protein supplement, your body works longer to break it down making you feel fuller longer. Less temptation to snack means more healthy food choices.
Healthy Hair, Nails, and Skin
If you’re concerned about fitness for the visual results (who isn’t?), then a protein supplement is your best friend for more reasons that you think. Besides aiding in weight loss, protein is essential in producing healthy and strong hair, nails, and skin. Keratin therapies and supplements that promise thicker hair, stronger nails, and clearer skin are constantly being pushed by beauty experts, but the secret is that this keratin comes from protein. Without extracting that specific agent, you get the benefits of the keratin along with the other 9 essential amino acids your body doesn’t produce spontaneously. And the keratin actually performs better when it’s built into your body from the inside instead of added after the fact.
Stronger Bones
Women know that their bone strength and eventual fragility are major concerns. You drink milk, you exercise, you make sure that you’re getting enough calcium and Vitamin D, but our bones are actually made up of mostly protein! There’s also a correlation between muscle strength and bone strength over a lifetime. Studies have shown that an increase in protein, along with other healthy dietary choices and regular exercise, increases bone mass and strength.
Best Protein Powder for Women
Adding more protein to your diet can be a pain which is why replacing one meal with a protein shake or using a supplement after a tough workout is such a popular solution. It can be intimidating trying to find the best option for you and your needs. There are a lot of diet protein shakes available that are marketed at women as well as workout-specific protein powders for women. Your protein doesn’t need to be in a pink container or endorsed by Oprah to work for your body.
There are a few key things you should look for in a good protein powder. The first is that each serving contains at least 20g of protein. What’s the point of a supplement if it’s not actually supplementing? Next, you should make sure that the product is a hydrolyzed whey protein isolate (where fat and lactose are removed from the product). It’s the fastest-acting, most efficient protein powder on the market and it works for men and women. Make sure that the protein powder you’re using isn’t full of unnecessary calories and artificial ingredients. Protein needs to be the most important ingredient. And lastly, find a solution that tastes good. If it’s torture to swallow every drop, you’re not going to drink it. PROGENEX’s More Muscle comes in four delicious flavors, contains over 30g of protein per serving, and is made up of natural, essential ingredients.
Don’t let marketing fool you: women need protein as much as, if not more than, men. Adding a protein supplement will help you look better, feel better, and perform better no matter what your goals are.
