The classic Aussie diet is doing us no favours when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight. Built around high-carb breakfasts and lunches, and topped off with protein-loaded dinners, our national approach to meal-making is woefully wrong-headed. And it’s doubtless more than a little bit responsible for countless crazy cravings and broken diets. That’s because our protein routine is totally messed up - and we’ve got the proof!

A recently published report by the CSIRO found that distributing protein intake evenly across the course of the day – rather than skewing protein intake towards the evening - optimises muscle protein synthesis, which may assist with muscle gain [1]. Meaning that if you’re trying to make the most of those gym sessions, your best bet is to sprinkle protein into each and every meal. So far, so scientific and sensible, right?

But that’s not how Aussies like to do things - data from a recent national health survey found that Australian adults tend to skew their protein intake towards the evening, with the majority of their daily protein intake coming from the dinner meal. That’s right, we’ve got the whole thing back-to-front!

Based on the available scientific research, the CSIRO recommend aiming to meet a target of 25-30g of protein with each main meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), which has shown to increase feelings of satiety (feeling fuller for longer after a meal), and support muscle metabolism. Data from the Australian Health Survey found that both men and women fail to meet the optimal protein target of 25-30g of protein per meal at breakfast, with average protein intakes of just 16g and 11g, respectively. So, what can you do about it?

Thankfully addressing the problem-o is super easy! Supplementing a typical breakfast meal (a bowl of cereal and milk, which provides just 12g protein) with a fruit smoothie made with 1 scoop of Activated Nutrients Daily Protein, 1 cup of almond milk, and a banana will add 20g of protein to the meal, boosting the protein content of the meal to 32g, helping to manage appetite and support muscle metabolism. See, we said it was easy!

Reference:

1. Noakes M. Protein Balance: New Concepts for Protein in Weight Management. CSIRO, Australia; 2018.