How much protein should I eat to help my High Cholesterol?

Protein is an important source of fuel and building blocks for your body but how much protein should you eat when you’re trying to lose weight and lower your cholesterol levels?

Short answer: it depends on your body size.

The old Australian guidelines on protein requirements stated that women should get around 46 g per day while men should get 64 g per day. Newer research suggests this is too low - especially for people attempting to lose weight.

Why protein?

Our clever bodies use protein for a long list of tasks, including:

• Forming a major component of our cells
• Creating a basic constituent of our hair, skin and nails
• Building and repairing muscle tissue
• Contributing to the construction of our bones, cartilage, blood, and more

If you're on a weight loss diet, protein can play another key role: it keeps you full, with fewer calories.

So, how much do I need?

For people who are attempting to lose weight we recommend eating between 1.2 and 1.6 g of protein per kilogram of weight.

More importantly, the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet recommends spreading the protein you eat relatively evenly between your meals. This is what they call the Protein Balance philosophy. For most, that means eating more protein at breakfast and lunch and less at dinner, with at least 25 g at each meal.

Quality as important as quantity

Enough protein is important - but so is the quality of the protein and what you eat with it. If your main protein source is junk food, losing weight might be a challenge. Burgers and fried chicken contain lots of protein but lots of other, not so good stuff too!

For maximum effect from the protein you eat, always choose whole food sources of protein, such as:

• Lean beef and chicken
• White fish and tuna
• Dairy products like milk, yoghurt and cheese
• Eggs
• Tofu, nuts and legumes

The Total Wellbeing Lifestyle Plan and high cholesterol

The CSIRO conducted a number of trials to determine which dietary approaches give the best results for weight loss. They found that even losing a small amount of weight using the right approach can have substantial benefits for managing cardiovascular disease risk factors including lowering cholesterol levels.

The trials found the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet resulted in significant reductions in total and LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol and increases in ‘good’ HDL cholesterol over 12 weeks.

Digital Wellness have developed the Total Wellbeing Lifestyle Plan to help your members better their health. It includes 24 weeks access to the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet scientifically formulated to have an effective approach to weight loss and improving cholesterol combined with one-on-one phone, video, and online coaching sessions from accredited practising dietitians to bring you a Chronic Disease Management Plan that provides lasting real results including improvements of an average 8% in cholesterol levels.