Discover how much protein you really need

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  Posted by Brett Blumenthal - Sheer Balance Wed May 28, 2008 1:12pm PDT

  I agree, 10% is way too low. Moreover, if you do a lot of strength training, you could benefit with a higher protein diet (up to 40%). For a simple calculator to find out how many calories and how many grams of each macronutrient you need (carbohydrates, fats and proteins), click here: http://www.sheerbalance.com/nutrition_calculators.html

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  Posted by Irmie Fri May 30, 2008 8:48pm PDT

  I am missing the information about how much protein you can get from fresh greens! I've yet to see the elephant or rhino who eats chicken breast, cooked lentils or egg whites or cooked beans. If you eat a raw vegan diet you can get sufficient protein from uncooked plants - with a high quality blender which tears down cell walls, even the toughest greens become digestible and they are way more healthy than cooked food. Look it up! Eating cooked, warm food triggers an allergic reaction in the body. So, how about some info about protein from plants... better for the planet, better for you.

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  Posted by Mark H Sat May 31, 2008 8:09am PDT

  This is dangerously irresponsible advice. In fact, and without regard to activity, women and men need no more than 45 and 60 grams of total protein daily respectively. Any excess is urinated away and stresses the kidneys in the process. Despite the simplistic and erroneous claim that excess protein is a harmless waste, the fact is it can be quite dangerous indeed and lead-in the extreme-to renal failure and death. There is far too much non-sense being spread to unsuspecting people by pseudo-experts like this one. Maybe she got her 'degrees' online too.

  At any rate, beware: Protein is not benign in excess and the true daily human need is very low. Unless you like the idea of being on renal dialysis, ignore claims to the contrary.

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  Posted by James Anderson Sat May 31, 2008 10:07am PDT

  The average American usually exceeds the recommended daily protein intake of about 60g for an adult male. Its the sources and quality of protein that we choose that is important, tied in with a nutritious diet and an exercise regimen to maintain optimum health. I usually average 70-100g of protein a day simply because the food I eat is low in calories and high in nutrients, so I eat more. Items like spinach, lentils, black beans, tofu, low fat milk, yogurt, and fish can provide maximum protein quality and prevent overloading your diet with excess calories from saturated fat from processed cheese, heavy cream, and fatty low quality corn and junk food fattened beef.

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  Posted by Scirocco Sat May 31, 2008 10:45am PDT

  Yeah, I have to agree, this is very irresponsible. From the picture at the top, to the choices used as an example all the way to the link cautioning about getting too much protein which goes to recommended meats, this is misleading and recommends way too much protein. There are a lot of nutritionists saying that the RDA is padded and we'd do quite fine on much less and most of that, if not all, from plant sources.

  What seems to always get skimmed over and why I so object to the picture is that everything we eat has protein. That's how it has substance. But, technically we don't need protein. If it was about getting the protein why don't we actually become part chicken or cow or whatever direct protein we eat? It's about getting the essential amino acids that are the building blocks of protein so the body can pull what it needs and form its own protein. Consuming protein just needs to be broken down by our body so it can be digested, and eliminated when taken in excess but there's little in the post about the harm that can be done by eating too much.

  Many plant sources are, contrary to myths, "complete proteins" which just means they have plenty of all the essential amino acids. However, as long as we get a decent variety of healthy foods over the week we also get a good balance of all the amino acids we need. What one source seems to be a little low on another will have a lot.

  Further, a cup of black beans not only has a bunch of protein but calorie for calorie it has more than most animal sources and it has a bevy of fiber (which is great for scrubbing out the excess cholesterol in our intestines before it gets into our blood -- especially from meat and dairy) and oodles of vitamins the chicken breast just doesn't have. Make a black bean cake with masa harina (corn flour) and top with diced onions, bell pepper, corn and tomatoes; or a black bean pupusa topped with the traditional curtido (shredded cabbage salad); or a gordita, or arepa; or how about a falafel sandwich in a wheat pita with tabouli and hummus with tahini and chili sauce topping?

  I'm not vegan (yet...) but I have been inspired by some amazing vegan bodybuilders (one I know personally and then all his friends) who have no lack of energy and are happy, fun people as well.

  But there's plenty of other reasons for encouraging a more plant-based diet. Eating low on the food chain is much less harsh on the planet and requires a lot less land and water. It's a win-win-win-win-win and win some more diet.

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  Posted by robert b Sun Jun 1, 2008 5:38am PDT

  to answer Irmies question " how much protein is in veggies"

  Veggies have between 10-30% protein, beans being the veggie protein king.

  So with her formula 20% protein, you are going to get this amount from a strictly veggie diet and to add meats will surely put you over and into the kidney overload amount. To add to this meats are high acid and your body will need to deal with this by pulling calcium from your muscle and bones to neutralize the acid leading to low bone density etc.

  It is well recognized that high acid PH in the body is needed for cancer growth as well.

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  Posted by jalvarez95117@... Sun Jun 1, 2008 10:08am PDT

  daily intake of protein should be 1 gram per pound of goal body weight.

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  Posted by chillpillory Fri Jul 18, 2008 4:49pm PDT

  i have no advice; however, i can simply state my own situation. i'm 38, male, just shy of 5' 7", and 146lbs. my waist is 28 inches and i bench 230lbs. i'm not a bodybuilder, but i'm mor ethan just a fitness guy. i run two miles and lifts weights six times a week (also do core work and some yoga). look at a photo jamie bamber. that's the shape i'm in and it's my bodytype. anyhow, on days i hit the gym (six days per week) i eat around 3000 calories and 145 gms of protein (including my only supplement: a bottle of muscle milk). i'm not sure how many carbs i eat; however, i have a huge bowl of grape-nuts at breakfast, and i eat a bowl of short grain brown rice at least once (usually twice) a day. i never eat refined sugar (no white sugar, corn syrup, etc). i never eat refinedgrains (no white flour, etc). i eat meat and i eat about 35gms of fat a day (i cook with organic olive oil frequently). i eat two oranges or two kiwi and one banana a day. i eat a serving of organic collards greens or organic arugala (sp?) almost every day. i drink skim mlik or 1%. i have two cups of coffee, one glass of knob creek (or maker's mark) neat, and about 80 oz of tap water a day. i pee every ninety minutes. i tend to be hypoglycemic, so i have to eat every two hours. on the one day a week that i don't go to the gym, i eat around 2400 calories and only about 90 gms of protein. however, on the days i do work out (and i run *and* lift *and* do high-impact core work on the same day, mind you), i feel famished for protein, carbs,and some fat (like i said, about 35gms/day). i think i eat a ton of carbs (grape-nuts, brown rice, whole wheat hippie bread, and blue corn chips), however, i don't count. do with this info what you will. just thought i'd provide it. as for losing weight, w/r/t both men *and* women, weight-training HAS to be a part of the regimen. cardio and diet alone can't do it. to lose fat, one has to build a little muscle (not that one actually replaces the other). i've sort of modeled my work-out/diet structure on those employed by ryan reynolds and jessica biel (god, how i wish every woman would buff up like the stunning biel and the equally gorgeous evangeline lilly. most attractive women ever, says the guy with ph.d. and the trust fund). go watch the "balde:trinity" training video on youtube. i'm off to try to read some sartre in french. bon chance.

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  Posted by chillpillory Fri Jul 18, 2008 5:04pm PDT

  oops. this doctor of english literature made a typo. it's "blade: trinity", not "balde: trinity", a title which suggests a tale about middle english friars ("balde". get it?). however, i'm sincere in my suggestion that folks check out that training video. it's a dippy movie (with a few fairly funny moments), but the training that went into its preparation is serious buisness, and the video is, to me, much more inspirational than any exercise video. however, that's robably due to the fact that i find biel twenty times more desirable than any bottle-blonde fitness/bottcamp instructor. motivational talking is one worst inventions of mankind. just look, do research, and emulate.

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  Posted by chillpillory Fri Jul 18, 2008 5:41pm PDT

  i should add that i never crave sweets. i'm very much a guy, in that respect. so, it's very easy for me to completely ignore desserts that are under my nose. also, i was raised in an upper class environment (to be precise, by a non-religious jewishmother and a non-religious scottish father), so i was not raised to find comfort in food and in eating. food and eating were pleasures and necessities, but neither were ever presented as a source of solace. nor do i have any cultural associations with food; because i don't realy have any sort of ethnic background, i don't find identity in any particular cuisine (whereas my italian-american friends, for example, very much do). it's a very different mindset. that said, as a teenager, i ate pizza almost daily. what i now crave is meat. i don't ever crave a doughnut or a bowl of ice cream, but i do crave a steak or some roast turkey. and, sometimes, i crave fat (i've learned to identify this craving), a yen i usually satisfy with organic olive or sesame oil.

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