If you think that protein is just for meatheads and gym rats, think again. This essential macronutrient is necessary for so many different functions in the body that you would be in huge trouble without it.

Forget the whole stereotype about bodybuilders and hardcore athletes using protein supplements. They’re also made for regular people like you and me. If you find it difficult to consume enough protein from food, consider using a protein snack or supplement to get enough everyday.

Why is protein necessary?

The main function of protein is to repair and maintain muscle. Without enough in your daily diet, your muscle mass will begin to dwindle. Those muscles will also fail to repair after spending all that time exercising if you don’t fuel your body with sufficient amounts of protein. This not only means no muscle gain, muscle loss could be the unfortunate consequence.

Which foods contain high amounts of protein?

Meat and dairy products are packed with the highest amounts of quality proteins. Lean meats like chicken breast, turkey breast, certain cuts of beef, fish, shrimp, eggs, yogurt, milk, cheese, and many others will supply you with good levels of protein.

Why should I use high protein snacks and supplements?

When your busy lifestyle won’t allow you the time to prepare your own meals or eat properly, it can be very difficult to get adequate levels of protein. This is where high protein snacks come in. The purpose of protein supplements is to give you the quantity you need in a convenient way.

You can bring a protein bar or shake anywhere you go whether it’s to work or to the gym. All you have to do is pull it out and enjoy. Shakes can be mixed beforehand and stored in a thermos all day long. As for protein bars, they’re ready to go any time you need refueling. While getting all your protein from food is ideal, most people can’t seem to make it happen.

How are 180 Nutrition supplements different than the rest?

At 180 Nutrition, we offer protein powders and snacks that are healthier and more natural than that of the competition. Have you ever read the nutrition label on a standard protein supplement or bar? Well, you probably won’t recognise half of the ingredients listed. Most of them are chemical compounds that add no health benefit to the supplement. 180 Nutrition bars and drinks don’t have any of that extra stuff in it. Only the most natural ingredients such as almond meal, flaxseed, grass fed whey protein isolate, and others are used to provide you with the most healthful protein alternative available.

Learn more about our natural protein formula here.

By Guy Lawrence

If you milked cat’s udders and rubbed it on your… Sorry, couldn’t resist! If you are looking for a quick fix to make you look and feel ten years younger, then turn off your computer right now and switch on the daytime TV as I’m pretty sure you will find it there. But if you do like the idea of a few simple habits that can slow the ageing process down and make you feel like a million dollars… Continue reading →

Building and keeping muscle, our metabolically active tissue, is the key for long-term health, vitality, longevity and fat loss.

Tufts University reports the top two determinants of aging we can control and biomarkers of how long you’ll live is muscle mass and strength. One of the causes, as well as symptom of the aging process is sarcopenia, or muscle loss.

Losing muscle as we age not only leads to overall weakness but is a direct cause of decreasing your overall metabolic rate. Muscle is denser than fat, takes up less space in the body versus fat, and burns more calories than fat. The more lean muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolic rate.

The majority of women opt for aerobic/cardio exercise as their preferred choice of exercise. Excessive aerobic exercise decreases muscle mass over time. For more than 20 years, I have advised my clients, men and women alike, against excessive LSD (long, slow, distance) exercise if their goal is to lose fat, rev up their metabolism, look good and feel great.

That’s right – and your body will completely transform! How? Resistance strength training.

Although many people, especially females, opt for aerobic and cardio exercise as their preferred choice, resistance strength training is one of the most important aspects if you want to change your physical body.

A program that includes a variety of push-ups, chin-ups and pull-ups, dead lifts, Olympics lifts, various styles of single leg exercises, step-ups and lunges, plyometrics and more using partner body weight and resisted exercises with dumbbells, suspension training with the TRX, jump ropes, sandbags, medicine balls, bands, Swiss balls, kettle bells and barbells.

Building muscle and maintaining your anabolic drive and metabolism will keep you lean, younger looking and feeling phenomenal.

What works to optimize your body composition, boost metabolism

• Eating foods that are nutrient dense equals more nutrition at less calories.

• Eat the same amount of (or slightly less than) the calories that you burn.

• Resistance strength training exercise.

• Detoxify your body.

• Make sure all systems are working (digestion, hormones, sleep).

• Have a reason for doing it.

• Believe in yourself.

Avoid:

• Antibiotics.

• Alcoholic beverages.

• Artificial fats like margarines and trans fats.

• Artificial flavorings, colorings and preservatives.

• Artificial sweeteners (including high fructose corn syrup).

• Corn-fed meats.

• Genetically modified organisms.

• Pesticides.

• All fast food.

• Sugar, processed soy, refined wheat and pasteurized dairy.

Read the full article here.

Supplement your daily diet with 180 Superfood.

According to studies published by a team of researchers, including Dr. Douglas Paddon-Jones at the University of Texas, there is evidence that consuming 25 to 30 grams of protein per meal helps to maximize muscle building (or synthesis) in both younger and older adults — and that’s even without the added benefits of exercise.

According to Paddon-Jones: “The concept of 30 grams of protein at each meal is still kind of a theory, but it started with a study where we used lean beef as a protein source. Prior to that, we used specialized amino acid formula, which tasted terrible, but this time we wanted to see what happened with real food. We found that with a single meal of 4 ounces (about 100 grams) of lean beef, which provides about 30 grams of lean protein, we got a 50% increase in lean muscle tissue synthesis in both older and younger adults.”

Is there any benefit to bumping the protein up even more? “Since we know that no one can get a steak as small as 4 ounces in a restaurant, we did other studies on 12 ounce portions, but found no change,” Paddon-Jones said. The researchers also said that an intake of less than 20 grams per meal actually blunted, or reduced, protein synthesis in older adults.

What is Sarcopenia?

Why the increased need for protein as we age? The aim is to prevent or minimize sarcopenia, or age-related muscle loss. Throughout our lifespan, our bodies are in a constant state of building up and tearing down muscle. In our younger years, it is fairly easy to at least maintain a balance between build-up and break-down; as we age, however, our bodies start to break down muscle tissue faster than we build it. It was assumed we lose the ability to build lean muscle as we age, but in fact, it seems our bodies are still quite capable of generating all-

important muscle — that we need to maintain strength, vitality and independence — well into our senior years, as long as the amino acids (the building blocks of protein) are available.

For many people, getting protein at dinner or lunch isn’t much of a problem. With a cup of milk providing 8 grams of protein, an egg 6 grams (all from the white), and a ¾ cup (175 gram) serving of most yogourts about 6 to 8 grams, however, meeting protein targets at breakfast can be a challenge. So, older adults should consider choosing more protein-rich options, such as Greek-style yogourt (18-20 grams of protein per 175 gram serving), cottage cheese (30 grams per cup), or even a scoop of protein powder to start their days.

Being over 40 doesn’t have to mean you’re gaining weight. True, your metabolism is slowing down but there are ways to speed that sucker right up. These tips will get you slimmed down in no time!

A known fact: as we age, our metabolism slows down. When you’re 20, your metabolism is much different from say, when you’re 40. So if you’re like the rest of us that are over 40, you may be having some issues with your weight. Metabolism slows down due to muscle loss and our decrease of physical activity. Well, let’s show ‘em that growing older doesn’t mean growing fatter – as seen on The Dr. Oz Show, fight back with these 5 metabolism boosters!

Weigh Your Whey

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and one way to boost your metabolism by 25% is having a whey protein shake every morning. As we get older, life becomes more demanding and some of us may think going to the drive-thru for some fast food is the easiest way to get our day started. Having a whey protein shake is way easier – not only do you save on the exorbitant calories from fast food, whey protein is filling, low in calories and nourishes the body while acting as a boost for eating for fat loss.

Exercise!

This one may seem like a no-brainer but when you’re a busy working mom, it’s hard to find time to exercise. But think of it as an input/output equation: what you eat stays on your body unless you move as much as you eat. Or if you’re trying to lose weight, you have to move more than what you’re eating. So you’re going to have to find the time. It is recommended that move at least an hour a day – invest in a FitBit or even a pedometer and set our goal at taking 10,000 steps a day. To get an extra metabolic boost, add weight lifting to your new exercise plan to build up that lost muscle, which burns calories more efficiently, while tightening, toning and keeping your bones strong.

Up Your Greens

Take control of your food intake – before any “bad” (i.e. high fat) food cravings kick in, eat your vegetables! Your body works harder at digesting green veggies, therefore causing your metabolism to speed up. Eating more vegetables will keep you more satiated and energised.

‘Clean’ Up Your Protein

Get lean and mean with your protein! Choose “clean” protein (meaning 5-7 grams of fat per service) and this is definitely a case in which quality over quantity rules: buy the best cuts of lean protein that you can and your body will burn them more efficiently. Stay away from high-fat proteins because these work against your goals and cause you to store fat, regardless all the exercise you’ve added to your lifestyle. Starve your fat, feed your muscle!

Read the full article here.

Boost your metabolism with 180 Superfood.

Muscle loss with age (sarcopenia) may be caused by a reduction of muscle protein synthetic response to food intake, along with inactivity of muscles.

A group of researchers set out to find which milk protein was the best for muscle protein accretion, and would therefore help stave off sarcopenia.

Three groups of older men were fed a meal-like amount of whey protein, casein, and casein hydrolysate proteins. Their protein ingestion was combined with an intravenous tracer which was used to assess digestion and absorption kinetics, and their muscle synthesis rates were also calculated from the ingested tracer.

According to the study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:

“Whey protein stimulates postprandial muscle protein accretion more effectively than do casein and casein hydrolysate in older men. This effect is attributed to a combination of whey’s faster digestion and absorption kinetics and higher leucine content.”

It may seem like common sense that if you don’t use your muscles, you will get muscle loss and they’ll eventually atrophy away, yet so many people fail to apply this information.

The older you get, the faster your muscles atrophy (muscle loss) if you’re not regularly engaging in appropriate exercise like weight training. Additionally, older muscles do not respond well to sudden or intense bouts of exercise, so the key to avoiding sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) is to challenge your muscles with intense exercise on a regular basis throughout your life—although it’s never too late to start, you just need to start out more gradually.

Protein is essential to help prevent muscle loss and for healthy muscle growth and maintenance when exercising, but as you age, your body becomes increasingly less able to utilise the protein in your food for building muscle, making whey protein a great choice to include in your daily diet.

If you want to improve your protein intake with quality whey protein isolate and improve your general daily diet, take a look at our 180 natural protein superfood.

You can read the full article here.

A known fact: as we age, our metabolism slows down. When you’re 20, your metabolism is much different from say, when you’re 40.

So if you’re like the rest of us that are over 40, you may be having some issues with your weight. Metabolism slows down due to muscle loss and our decrease of physical activity. Well, let’s show ‘em that growing older doesn’t mean growing fatter – as seen on The Dr. Oz Show, fight back with these metabolism boosters!

Weigh Your Whey

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and one way to boost your metabolism by 25% is having a whey protein shake every morning. As we get older, life becomes more demanding and some of us may think going to the drive-thru for some fast food is the easiest way to get our day started. Having a whey protein shake is way easier – not only do you save on the exorbitant calories from fast food, whey protein is filling, low in calories and nourishes the body while acting as a boost for eating for fat loss.

Exercise!

This one may seem like a no-brainer but when you’re a busy working mom, it’s hard to find time to exercise. But think of it as an input/output equation: what you eat stays on your body unless you move as much as you eat. Or if you’re trying to lose weight, you have to move more than what you’re eating. So you’re going to have to find the time. It is recommended that move at least an hour a day – invest in a FitBit or even a pedometer and set our goal at taking 10,000 steps a day. To get an extra metabolic boost, add weight lifting to your new exercise plan to build up that lost muscle, which burns calories more efficiently, while tightening, toning and keeping your bones strong.

Up Your Greens

Take control of your food intake – before any “bad” (i.e. high fat) food cravings kick in, eat your vegetables! Your body works harder at digesting green veggies, therefore causing your metabolism to speed up. Eating more vegetables will keep you more satiated and energized.

Read the full article here.

Boost your metabolism with 180 Superfood.