First of all let me apologize for my extended absence. I had somewhat of an extended vacation and then 2 weeks of studies had me somewhat bogged down. However, I appreciate all of the questions sent my way and for the few that I was unable to respond to I will be getting at those shortly. But for now, I will take my time on this post to answer a question I have received a couple of times from various users:
How much protein do I need?
Not so surprisingly, this is a question that varies from person to person depending on several factors including sex, weight, muscle mass, and fitness goals.
One of the most common and overstated misconceptions about protein intake is “1 gram of protein for every pound” if you are trying to build muscle. Every personal trainer, high school coach, and body builder will claim that 1 gram of protein per pound is the very minimum you should take if you are trying to add muscle mass. Where this thought developed, I do not know, but ever since some nutrition numskull blurted it out of their ill advised mouth swarms of people have gone delusional with confusion.
Make note that every gram of protein is equivalent to 4 calories. When my poor little mother who weighs about 135 lbs was told by her new trainer to eat 1 gram of protein for every pound she weighed. She quickly realized that 45% of the calories of her recommended 1200 calorie diet was protein. This, as I told my dear mother, is wrong.
My mother was not trying to gain weight or muscle. She was trying to do what most middle aged women do- lose body fat. I quickly corrected her trainer and told her what every nutritionist learns in their first basic nutrition class: the DRI is 0.8 grams of protein for every kilogram of DESIRABLE body weight. Keep the desirable part in mind and not your CURRENT weight.
Just think about it: The largest amount of protein in our bodies makes up our “lean-tissue” (muscles, organs, and collagen in bone, teeth, cartilage, and ligaments). Determining how much protein you need in your diet to support protein turnover in your body is best estimated by basing it on how much lean tissue you have. Lean tissue is almost directly proportional to body weight (assuming you are not overweight because of excess fat). Finally, it only makes sense to use grams with kilograms rather than pounds for obvious metrical reasons.
So, now we go back to 7th grade math class to clean up our conversion skills. 1 kilogram is roughly 2.2 pounds. So my mother, who I mentioned weighs around 135 lbs, is trying to get down to 125 lbs. She would take 125 and divide that by 2.2 to get her desired weight in kilograms. Then, she would multiply that number by 0.8 to reach her goal for total grams of protein in a day:
125 lb ÷ 2.2 = 57 kg
57 kg x 0.8 = 46g of protein/day
This is about a third of what was recommended to her, and you can tell is an extremely drastic difference.
0.8 grams is only recommended for people trying to lose or maintain weight. If in fact you are trying to gain muscle mass, then remember that protein is the most important thing you can put into your body. The more you work out, the more protein you will need to build muscle. The more muscle you have, the more protein you will need to just maintain that muscle. As for a specific amount of protein to consume for gaining muscle mass, there is no easy formula. I personally recommend no more than 2 grams per kilograms you weigh unless you are a professional body builder or athlete. Too much protein can easily be detrimental to your body’s health.
Fun Nutrition Fact of The Week: Which of the following are berries?
a. Strawberry
b. Raspberry
c. Peach
d. Watermelon
“A berry is defined as “a fleshy fruit containing several seeds.” Strictly speaking, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries are not berries but aggregated drupes- a drupe being a fleshy fruit containing a single stone or pit.
Peaches, plums, nectarines, and olives are drupes. The world’s largest drupe is the coconut, which, because of its hard flesh, is called a dry drupe.
Strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries are called aggregated drupes because each individual fruit is actually a cluster of miniature drupes- the characteristic bumpy bits which make up the blackberries and raspberries.
Each one of these drupelets contains a single tiny seed- these are the bits that get stuck in your teeth when you eat a blackberry.
Tomatoes, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, watermelons, kiwi fruit, cucumbers, grapes, passion fruit, papaya, peppers, and bananas are all berries.
Blueberries are also berries. They are variously known as bleaberries, billberries, whortleberries, huckleberries, hurtleberries, myrtleberries, and trackleberries.”
Lloyd, John, and John Mitchinson. The Book of General Ignorance. New York, NY:
Harmony Books, 2006.
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