With all of the low carb diets out today, and all of the wonderful work Dr. Atkins has done to show us how cutting carbs can be a very effective way to lose weight, I'm sure that you probably know about the great benefits of protein. If not, then visit my blog where I constantly reveal my findings on that. Anyway the goal of these diets is to increase protein intake while drastically reducing carbohydrate consumption, so that your body will burn fat instead of carbohydrates for energy...very effective, although I really do not believe in diets which is another story. Anyway, I am always looking for high protein foods that are low in fat. Also there are many different types of proteins that I have read about, but I put them all into two categories which are regular protein and casein protein. The difference is that regular proteins are absorbed right away, while casein protein are absorbed over time.



As I mentioned earlier I am always looking for high protein foods and these are the ones I use on a daily basis that are easy on the pocket and can be picked up from any local grocery store:

EGG WHITES - 4g protein Serving size: 1 egg

No, eggs are not just from breakfast! I eat egg whites any time a day, even though my typical breakfast usually consists of about 6 egg whites. They have no carbs, virtually no fat, and has only 16 calories! It's almost the perfect food.

Tilapia fillet - 6g protein Serving size: 1oz

This is another one of those perfect foods in my opinion...most fish is and I'm sure that you have heard that before. The problem with fish is usually the price tag and that's why I like tilapia so much. It's relatively inexpensive and it's really easy to prepare. Just add some lime, salt and pepper and saut? for about 10 mins on each side and you're ready to go. Don't I sound like a chef?!

Cottage Cheese - 31g protein Serving size: 1 cup

Surprisingly I have read a number of articles stating that cottage cheese is bad for you...one article even said that it's the "fat people's food." After reading that, I remember checking the label again to see if I missed something. I guess the reason people think it's so bad is because of the high sodium content at 918mb however, one of those TV dinners has about 930mg of sodium...so I would rather eat a cup of cottage cheese than one of those any day. I usually use cottage cheese as part of my last meal of the day since its high in casein protein. This enables my body to have some protein when it repairs it's self as I sleep.

Soymilk - 8g protein Serving size: 1 cup

When I am looking to add some mass I drink a cup of soy with every meal. It gives me an added 8g of protein per meal at a cost of 4g of fat...which is not bad at all when I'm bulking. If I'm in a cutting phase, I substitute for a cup of skim milk which has 0g fat with the same 8g of protein but it doesn't have the taste! Or I just grab a cup of the best drink ever...WATER!

So basically these are four of the high protein foods I use almost daily. I always look for foods with a low fat to protein ratio, while being easy on the pocket. For protein power I just discovered what's called "Non-Denatured" whey protein...It's supposed to be protein at its most natural form. I've ordered a bottle from Sweden, I'll keep you posted.