Do you taking enough protein or are you on the excessive side? Should you be concerned about your protein intake? What are essential body proteins? How can protein assist you in various health plans and situations such as losing weight, body building, pregnancy and breastfeeding?Just read on to find the answers.
Proteins are the main building blocks of the body. Its benefit can not be overlooked. Little wonder it is referred to as the king of nutrition by Dr. Spencer Nadolsky. Without protein, life as we know it would not be possible. Why? At least for two reasons
- They’re used to make muscles, tendons, organs and skin.
- Proteins are also used to make enzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters and various tiny molecules that serve important functions.
- Its helps the body immune system
If we don’t get enough protein from the diet, our health and body composition suffers. However, when it comes comes to protein it is not just about quantity. It’s also about quality.
What Is Essential Protein
Proteins are made out of smaller molecules called amino acids, which are linked together like beads on a string. The linked amino acids form long protein chains, which are then folded into complex shapes.
Some of these amino acids can be produced by the body, while we must get others from the diet. The ones we can not produce and must get from our foods are called the “essential” amino acids
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Generally speaking, animal protein provides all the essential amino acids in the right ratio for us to make full use of them (only makes sense, since animal tissues are similar to our own tissues).
If you’re eating animal products (like meat, fish, eggs, or dairy) every day, then you’re probably already doing pretty well, protein-wise.
If you don’t eat animal foods, then it is a bit more challenging to get all the protein and essential amino acids that your body needs. Unlike animal protein, most plant-based proteins are "incomplete," meaning they lack some amino acid building blocks.
By combining plant proteins, such as rice and beans or hummus on pita bread, they become "complete" with all the essential amino acids found in animal protein. Eat different plant proteins anytime during the day. They don't need to be eaten in the same meal.
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Most people don’t really need protein supplements, but they can be useful for athletes and bodybuilders.
How Much Protein Does The Body Need?
There are vastly different opinions on how much protein we actually need. Most official nutrition organizations recommend a fairly modest protein intake.
The DRI (Dietary Reference Intake) is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or 0.36 grams per pound.
This amounts to :
- 56 grams per day for the average sedentary man.
- 46 grams per day for the average sedentary woman.
Although this meager amount may be enough to prevent downright deficiency, studies show that it is far from sufficient to ensure optimal health and body composition.
Adults in the U.S. are encouraged to get 10% to 35% of their day's calories from protein foods. That's about 46 grams of protein for women, and 56 grams of protein for men.
It's not hard to get this amount if you eat two to three servings of protein-rich foods a day, according to the CDC.
- A small 3-ounce piece of meat has about 21 grams of protein. A typical 8-ounce piece of meat could have over 50 grams of protein.
- One 8-ounce container of yogurt has about 11 grams of protein.
- One cup of milk has 8 grams of protein.
- One cup of dry beans has about 16 grams of protein.
It turns out that the “right” amount of protein for any one individual depends on many factor .... including activity levels, age, muscle mass, physique goals and current state of health.
So what amount of protein is optimal and how do lifestyle factors like weight loss, muscle building and activity levels factor in?
Protein And Weight Loss
In order to lose weight, we need to take in fewer calories than we burn. Eating protein can do just that, by boosting your metabolic rate (calories out) and reducing your appetite (calories in). This is well supported by science. How?
- In a study in obese men, protein at 25% of calories increased feelings of fullness, reduced the desire for late-night snacking by half and reduced obsessive thoughts about food by 60% .
- In another study, women who increased protein intake to 30% of calories ended up eating 441 fewer calories per day. They also lost 11 pounds in 12 weeks, just by adding more protein to their diet.
- In one study, just a modest increase in protein from 15% of calories to 18% of calories reduced the amount of fat people regained after weight loss by 50%. So protein doesn’t just help you lose… it can also help prevent you from gaining weight in the first place.
But probably the most important contribution of protein to weight loss, is its ability to reduce appetite and cause a spontaneous reduction in calorie intake. Protein is much more satiating than both fat and carbs.
Protein at around 25-30% of calories has been shown to boost metabolism by up to 80 to 100 calories per day, compared to lower protein diets. By eating more protein, you will make it much easier to stick to whichever weight loss diet (be it high-carb, low-carb or something in between) you choose to follow.
According to these studies, a protein intake around 30% of calories may be optimal for weight loss. This amounts to 150 grams per day for someone on a 2000 calorie diet. You can calculate it by multiplying your calorie intake by 0.075.
Protein And Muscles
Muscles are dynamic and are constantly being broken down and rebuilt. So to gain muscle, the body must be synthesizing more muscle protein than it is breaking down. In other words, there needs to be a net positive protein balance (often called nitrogen balance, because protein is high in nitrogen) in the body.
For this reason, people who want a lot of muscle will need to eat a greater amount of protein (and lift heavy things, of course). It is well documented that a higher protein intake helps build muscle and strength (13).
Also, people who want to hold on to muscle that they’ve already built may need to increase their protein intake when losing body fat, because a high protein intake can help prevent the muscle loss that usually occurs when dieting.
When it comes to muscle mass, the studies are usually not looking at percentage of calories, but daily grams of protein per unit of body weight (kilograms or pounds). A common recommendation for gaining muscle is 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, or 2.2 grams of protein per kg.
Numerous studies have tried to determine the optimal amount of protein for muscle gain and many of them have reached different conclusions. Some studies show that over 0.8 grams per pound has no benefit, while others show that intakes slightly higher than 1 gram of protein per pound is best.
Although it’s hard to give exact figures because of conflicting results in studies, 0.7-1 grams (give or take) per pound of body weight seems to be a reasonable estimate. If you’re carrying a lot of body fat, then it is a good idea to use either your lean mass or your goal weight, instead of total body weight, because it’s mostly your lean mass that determines the amount of protein you need.
Protein And The Average Man
If you’re at a healthy weight, you don’t lift weights and you don’t exercise much, then aiming for 0.36 to 0.6 grams per pound (or 0.8 to 1.3 gram per kg) is a reasonable estimate.
This amounts to:
- 56-91 grams per day for the average male.
- 46-75 grams per day for the average female.
Protein For Pregnant And Breastfeeding Women.
Lauren Antonucci, MS, RD, director of Nutrition Energy in New York City says pregnant women need about 10 more grams of protein than they did before. And "nursing women need 20 grams more protein a day than they did before pregnancy to support milk production," says Antonucci. You would get 10 grams in one Greek yogurt or a half-cup of cottage cheese, so it doesn't add up to a lot of food. She encourages pregnant women to get 20 to 30 grams of their protein a day from low-fat dairy products because calcium and vitamin D are crucial for the bone health of mother and baby.
Tips for Not Going Overboard With Protein
Protein servings of meat, poultry, or fish, should be the size and thickness of the palm of your hand, suggests Antonucci. That's about a 3-ounce portion. She suggests that meat eaters eat no more than two palm-sized servings of meat a day to get enough -- but not too much -- protein.
To look at it another way, protein should take up no more than one-third of your plate at meals, whether it's in a form you can drink or chew, suggests Bonci. She recommends including small amounts of protein foods at every meal to spread your intake evenly throughout the day.
Conclusively, given that there is no evidence of harm and significant evidence of benefit, I think it is better for most people to err on the side of more protein rather than less.
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