Protein

Protein is vital for your health, because it's your body's main building block. Your muscles, hair, nails, skin, eyes, heart and other organs are largely made of protein. So you really need protein to support your teenage growth spurt. Protein helps your body repair itself after an injury, like a cut or broken bone. You also need it to make healthy red blood cells, fight off infections and assist in the recovery process after getting sick.

Examples of protein foods: Protein is found in animalbased foods - eggs, chicken, turkey, lamb, beef, pork and fish - and dairy products - yoghurt, milk and cheese. It's found in plant foods, too - like legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds. Even fruit and vegies contain small amounts of protein. The specific protein you need depends on your age, size and activity level. You use protein every single day, so you've got to get some good-quality protein daily to have great skin and avoid a whole stack of health and beauty problems.

In general, growing teens need about 1 gram of protein daily per kilogram of their body weight. So if you're 50 kg (112 lb), you need about 50 g of protein a day.

Eat more protein

High-protein diets including the Atkins Diet typically restrict the amount of carbs you eat. The problem is that your body was designed to run on good carbs, and you absolutely need them to fuel your body and keep your brain working. When you exclude carbs from your diet, you miss out on the vital nutrients they provide for growth - and you're dropping some of the healthiest foods, like fruit and vegies - the sources of fibre. Remember, your teen years are the most critical time to provide your body with the right nutrition by eating from all the major food groups in the best possible balance.

Here's the deal on gaining weight: junk food will plump you up, but that stuff lacks the nutrients your body needs. To gain weight safely, eat healthy snacks between balanced meals. You need to eat a little more, between 1260 and 2100 kilojoules (300 and 500 calories) a day, if you can.

Nuts are great. A high-protein diet is good for gaining weight too. Protein-rich goodies include eggs, fish, yoghurt, nuts, lean red meat, chicken, turkey and soy products. Also, splurge on full-fat yoghurts, almond butter on wholegrain bread and granola bars. Then, add a bunch of complex carbs, like brown rice, wholemeal (wholewheat) bread and vegies. Oh, one more thing: you can always add some energy shakes to your diet.

Another way to bulk up? Lift weights. Do upper and lower body exercises every other day. As for being teased, some people have a super high metabolism and no matter what they eat they just don't gain weight - you don't need to feel bad about this. As long as you eat lots of nutritious food and your body's needs are being met, you shouldn't have to explain yourself to anyone. It's tough to be different but in ten years, you'll probably be pretty happy about your high metabolism.