Improving your health, losing weight, and building muscle all require a higher protein intake. If you want to incorporate more lean protein into your diet, try some of these simple strategies.

 Eat The Protein First

Try to prioritize eating protein before anything else at meals. When you eat protein, your body produces more of the hormone Peptide YY (PYY) that causes fullness. Also, when you eat your protein first, you can avoid your insulin and blood sugar levels from rising after you finish a meal.

Have Cheese More Often

Cheese is just one example of many different nutritious foods and snacks that are rich in protein. Seven grams of protein and fewer calories than common, calorie-dense snack foods like chips, crackers, and pretzels can be found in just 28 grams of cheddar cheese. Your cholesterol levels won't go up from eating cheese, and it may even be good for your heart.

Eat More Eggs

Bagels, toast, and cereal may be among your go-to breakfast items, but they probably aren't providing your body with the protein it needs. While a 1-cup portion of oatmeal does provide more protein than other breakfast cereals, it still only provides 6 grams. However, you may get 19 grams of protein and other minerals like choline and selenium from only three large eggs. Eggs eaten first thing in the morning have been shown to help people feel fuller for longer, allowing them to cut back on their calorie intake throughout the day.

Try Greek Yogurt

Each 8-ounce serving of Greek yogurt has at least 17 grams of protein. This kind of yogurt is high in protein, with twice as much protein as regular yogurt. Greek yogurt helps your gut hormones PYY and GLP-1 work better, which makes you feel less hungry. Because it has conjugated linoleic acid, it has also been shown to help people lose weight.

Add Protein To Salad

Many salads are good for you because they have vegetables, which give your body minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants that help keep you healthy and fight off disease. Even so, they don't have a lot of protein. To get more protein, add a 3.5-ounce serving of salmon, tuna, cheese, chicken breast, or turkey breast to your salad. Cashew cream is an excellent protein-filled salad dressing if you don’t eat meat or want to try something different. 

Enjoy Protein Shakes

Depending on what you put in them, health shakes and smoothies can be a great way to start the day. Even if you like juice, fruit, or vegetable breakfast shakes and smoothies, they don't have much or any protein in them. Think about adding protein powders to your meals to make a high-protein shake. You can choose between egg, soy, and pea protein. If you want to feel full, you could try whey protein powder. With one scoop (28 grams) of whey protein powder, your body gets 20 grams of protein.

Eat One High Protein Ingredient At Every Meal

Protein-rich foods include meat and several types of fish. Protein-rich foods include chicken breast, cow liver, beefsteak, rabbit, salmon, and more. This is because the proteins and amino acids in these foods contribute to the production of antibodies. Incorporating even a single serving of a high-protein dish into your diet will enhance your protein consumption and make you feel full faster.