We all need protein in our diets, but do you know what we need it for? Protein promotes muscle health, recovery and growth. Protein supplements are used by athletes and body builders before and after workouts and as meal replacements. People who are on calorie-reduced diets for weight loss can reap the benefits of protein supplements. If you eat a lot of junk food, add some protein powder to a smoothie or milkshake to help get the protein that you need.

Protein is found in virtually every place that you look. It is needed for every cell in the body. It is found in many different food sources, from the obvious (chicken and beef) to the surprising (milk and soybeans). Think carefully about your day yesterday: did you get up in the morning, eat a nutritious breakfast and then get ready for work? Did you work steadily until it was time for your lunch, opening your carefully packed lunch bag to see what kind of well-balanced foods that you have brought to stave off the midday starvation feeling? Did you leave work at the end of the work day and drive straight home, relaxing with the newspaper and perhaps a few minutes of television before sitting down to a hot and home cooked meal? Did you have a small snack before you went to bed, sleeping peacefully and restfully for at least eight hours so that you could face the next day fresh and new? If you’re like most Americans, you probably did not.

While America has given birth to the song “Young at Heart”, and the phrase “you’re as young as you feel!” can be heard from coast to coast by millions of people, demographic trends point firmly toward the other direction: aging.

Protein is often thought of as a virtually magical nutrient, one that can do no wrong. The myths surrounding protein can often reveal some of the wrong thinking that can cause problems in the average diet. While protein is vital to every cell in the body, it can be a major problem when it is consumed in huge amounts, especially in some conditions. Just as it is important to get healthy sources of fats and carbohydrates in the proper amounts, it is just as important to get the proper amount of protein, also. The amount that should be eaten by each person can only be accurately determined by that person’s doctor or nutritionist, who will look not only at current weight but health condition and activity level as well.