How much protein is good for you?

After tackling carbohydrates and fats in my previous articles I have decided that it’s time to take a closer look at protein. I was expecting this to be a lot more straightforward as there usually seems to be less controversy surrounding it, and the general understanding is that it is pretty healthy. But of course, it never is that simple and there are a few important things to consider when it comes to protein.

Are you getting enough vitamins and minerals?

We all know that vitamins and minerals are good for you. But there are so many. We hear how this product is high in certain vitamins, that product contains a certain amount of a mineral but how do we know how much we actually need at that particular time? Have I already consumed my recommended value of calcium for that day? Am I getting enough zinc or do I need more? Are we supposed to calculate the % of daily value of all 23 vitamins and minerals for each food that we consume during the day? Surely this is incredibly impractical. I wanted to understand more about these nutrients, which ones we should be concerned about and how to ensure we get the nutrition we need without carrying a calculator to dinner.

Can cooking food be bad for you?

Since starting my blog I have spent months researching the effect of various foods and ingredients on our health. Usually I would focus on the product itself and its nutritional value but it has been brought to my attention that there are various other factors that can affect the quality of the food in your diet. Yep, just when I thought I started to understand how to eat better, science has thrown yet another curve ball. Turns out that something as basic as simply cooking your food can make a seemingly healthy diet potentially harmful.

The way you cook your meals matters. Cooking at high temperatures initiates chemical reactions that may, among other things, produce harmful compounds and reduce the amount of nutrients in the food. The extent of the effect largely depends on what you’re cooking and how. Let’s look at it in a bit more detail.