Oh my goodness this is my favourite thing.
Being protein-centric is a game changer for health, weight, shape, muscle preservation, satiety, hormone production, enzyme production and more.
The million dollar question - how much do you need?
It may surprise you to learn that protein is not actually a great ‘fuel' source. That’s because it’s a building block! Muscle tissue, hormones and enzymes RELY on it, and we in turn rely on them.
It’s important to note however that if you ate nothing but protein that wouldn’t be good either. Note: Fat, ketones and carbs are our best fuel sources. A healthy, flexible metabolism can interchangeably use those fuels with ease (yes, including body fat).
The purpose of protein is entirely different.
There has been much debate about protein needs in the nutrition space for some time.
“Eat high protein!”
“No, eat less protein - it’s hard on the kidneys!”
“Eat moderate protein!” Moderate according to who?
High, low and moderate...how long is a piece of string?
What I can tell you for sure is that most of the population is not eating enough protein. I have actually never had a client yet that was eating too much protein.
Too much food? Yes (but more often just messed up macros)
Too many carbs? Yes. Often.
Too much fat? Yes (it can still be a thing, even with a LCHF or Keto approach!)
But not protein.
The Standard American/Australian Diet (SAD diet) has a lot to answer for .
To be non-sciencey I’ll talk in palms :
1-2 palm size pieces of protein per meal per day should roughly do it.
Animal protein (meat, fish, eggs) are best and way superior to vegetarian/vegan sources. For. So. Many. Reasons.
But that’s pretty ‘general’ isn’t it. Yep! Probably doesn’t even help much because it depends how many meals you eat per day, your age, your sex, your size, your activity level....
I wouldn’t recommend a small female eat 2 palms of protein at 5 meals a day, nor would I recommend a large male eat 1 palm of protein at 2 meals a day.
So to get sciencey (and more accurate) I’ll talk in % and then grams .
Percentage-wise, roughly 30% of your daily calories coming from protein is pretty tip top. No less than 20% and no more than 40%.
In grams, the absolute minimum protein for a completely sedentary inactive person is 0.5g per lb of bodyweight (or goal bodyweight if that is substantially different to your current bodyweight). Like, the absolute minimum.
And if you’re planning to move at all or heaven forbid exercise (which would hopefully include some weight training) the minimum is 0.7g per lb so as not to be deficient. Not to be optimal...but rather not to be deficient.
Personally though, and after much research, trial & error, and tracking biofeedback in myself and clients, I definitely lean towards closer to 1g per lb of bodyweight (or goal bodyweight).
Using myself as an example, I weigh about 60kg which is about 130lbs, so my minimum if I was a sedentary sloth is 65g and my minimum as a lightly active individual would be 90g.
However as a pretty active individual who *definitely* lifts weights , i shoot for up to 130g.
PLUS I love feeling full (protein is super satiating) and I love eating meat/fish/eggs at every meal!
And thank god I’m not a sedentary sloth because 65g a day would make me very sad.
Reality is I eat somewhere between 90g & 130g of protein every day, depending on what that day looks like.
So what does 130g look like for example?
Hypothetically, if I ate 3 meals over the course of the day it could look like
3 eggs at break-fast, about 150g salmon/sardines at lunch, and about 150g steak at dinner.
That might only give me about 100g of protein from those actual foods but the incidental protein in other foods (even vegetables), or perhaps an occasional post-workout shake (or my preference - protein infused ketones!), or an occasional snack of jerky or nuts in the arvo etc will likely make up the rest.
So you can see how it would be tricky to get your optimal protein if you start the day with cereal or toast (both carbs with negligible protein...or even if it’s 1 egg, that only gives about 7g protein), then snack on sweet treats or even fruit for morning tea. Move onto a convenient sandwich or wrap for lunch (at best contains token protein of maybe 15-20g).
Then goodness knows what during the afternoon crash from blood sugar instability and an inability to tap into stored energy (body fat) because of extremely limited metabolic flexibility
And then dinner...and drinks... ARGH!
The take home: If you prioritise the protein component of every meal and go from there, trust me you’ll be onto something. Give it a try.
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