No matter what your goals are as far as weight management are concerned you would have heard or read some sort of story about protein.
Proteins are the building blocks of our bodies. Just like carbohydrates and fats they are essential for our body to maintain function. There are a number of high protein, low carbohydrate ‘diets’ around and as a result there is an overwhelming amount of misinformation that has ended up floating around.
It is not uncommon for people to think that the ‘healthy food’ pyramid is a bit skewed and that we should be switching some of our serves of cereals and grains for extra serves of ‘protein based’ foods like meat and eggs. In reality, that actually isn’t true. Here I have broken things down for you a bit and present some of the facts so that you can make a more informed decision about whether you actually do need more protein.
My overriding statement about all macronutrients (protein, fats and carbohydrates) is that the quality and quantity (in terms of portion size) are the most important factors to be considering. Understanding appropriate portion sizes is a major key to long term weight management. It is something I will go into some detail about during Kitchen Bootcamp and will certainly touch on it from time to time here.
There are a number of reasons that protein is useful for weight management, the main ones being:
- Approximately 40% of the calories consumed will be used in breaking down the protein for use throughout the body.
- Because it takes longer to digest it is more satiating than carbohydrates can be, ie that means it leaves you feeling fuller for longer.
- Proteins are generally not used as an energy source so they aren’t broken down and stored as fats in the way that carbohydrates are.
That last fact is important when you think about what your daily nutrient intake is made up of as a whole. You need carbohydrates for energy. If your body is carbohydrate depleted, it will create energy using protein as fuel, but that is not an ideal long term scenario and a subject for another day, I’m not feeling that scientifically inclined tonight ;) However, it does explain why a diet really high in protein and very low in carbohydrates (irrespective of quality) will most likely leave you feeling pretty tired and run down (hello pasta & bread cravings leading to ‘comfort eating’).
Let’s consider how much protein you really do need each day.
There is a recommended range for daily protein consumption dependant on your level of activity and goals around fat loss and muscle building. If you are looking to lose fat, it is actually easier to concentrate on that fact in the first instance and forget any bullshit you might have heard about muscle catabolism, another topic for another day.
If you don’t have a protein supplement immediately after a workout, or you exercise for more than 45 minutes your muscle will not start to eat it itself. Your body likes fat a whole lot better for generating energy. I promise. Muscle building and protein uptake is yet another topic for another day. Today is about the basics.
The average person on the street requires 1.0-1.2g/kg protein each day. Let’s use me as an example.
- I weigh 60kg, that means 60-72g protein/day
- However, because my training load is pretty high I could push it up to 1.5g/kg (90g)
- If I was training to be a figure athlete (aka bodybuilder) I would be looking at 1.5-1.7g/kg protein each day (90-132g). These information is consistent across a range of sources that I have researched.
1.2g/kg is a good average for anyone who is not an athlete and regardless of their body type and irrespective of their weight management goals.
There is no evidence to suggest that not eating your full protein quota each day is a problem. However, high amounts of protein each day (greater than 2.0g/kg) can, over time, place excess load on the kidneys leading to kidney disease and is also a cause of weakened bones due calcium being excreted in urine.
Consuming protein immediately after exercise enhances muscle uptake and retention of amino acids helping repair and build muscle. That is the truth. This process works best when the protein is combined with a carbohydrate. Whilst protein powders are convenient I’d rather have a smoothie made with banana, milk and wheat germ accompanied by a hardboiled egg because I know exactly what I am putting in my body. Protein supplements are sold to you by marketing something to you that you don’t actually need, complete with all the chemicals that give them flavour, shelf life and mix-a-bility.
Here is the bit that might surprise you. The food pyramid is actually spot on. When you look at the recommended number of serves in each food bracket and multiply that by appropriate serving sizes then, depending on your choices, your daily protein intake probably sits neatly in the 1.0-1.2g/kg bracket.
Between our recommended 2-3 serves of dairy and 1-1½ serves of meat/poultry/eggs/fish we get the bulk of our protein requirement. Supplement that with the significant protein contribution of you 4-6 serves from cereals and grains department and a bit more extra thrown in by the 4-7 serves of vegetables/legumes and you are seriously all over your daily protein need. No extra meat or supplementation required.
Sure, some foods are better sources than others and for vegetarians there is the complication of not all plant based proteins being complete, but as long as you are choosing a variety of foods over the course of time and eating them in appropriate portion sizes then you can be assured you are getting all the protein you need.
What do you think? Are you getting enough protein in your diet? Does it make you rethink that expensive tub of protein powder?
Tatum xx
