Protein Intro

Protein, Protein, Protein….Recently, I’ve seen a few athletes falter in the protein department. It might also be my most frequently asked question: “Protein, tell me more…” So, here’s a quick intro. This week, I’ll be doing a short series on the protein food group.

We all hear and read that we need PROTEIN and need a lot of it for good health, weight loss, training, etc. But is that actually true? Yes and no. Yes, protein is needed for good health and is very important for muscle recovery. However, most Americans are eating too much protein. The general recommendations are .8grams per kilogram of body weight. To put this in perspective, this is about 55 grams of protein for a 150lb person e.g. 1 restaurant steak may contain 62 grams of protein. So you can see that it is easy for someone to very quickly consume too much protein!

Dedicated Athletes: The recommendations are .8grams  of protein per kilogram of body weight. This is a baseline recommendation for the average individual trying to maintain current body weight and fitness.

Endurance athletes need more protein! Why?  Because we’re training, breaking down muscle, and we need to repair these muscles to come back stronger, faster, and fitter! Typically for an athlete in training, 1.2-1.4grams of protein for kilogram of body weight is recommended*.

Resistance Athletes need even more protein! Why? Because you’re building strength and making those muscle fibers break down. Typically for an athlete in training 1.6-1.7grams of protein for kilogram of body weight is recommended*.

*Note: These ranges vary based on the individual, sport, level of training, and various other factors. We’ll discuss this more later in the week. 🙂

Questions:  If you don’t know how to or don’t want to calculate your specific protein needs, please ask me!

Picture credit: Nuun (and the protein I ate after was some Vital Farms hardboiled eggs)

Next up: Meatless Monday and Why I do Dairy!

Sources (because, well I didn’t just make this up, haha):

1. Institute of Medicine Food and Nutrition Board. Dietary Reference Intakes: Energy, Carbohydrates, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2002.

2. Rosenbloom, C. (2012). Sports nutrition: a practice manual for professionals (5th ed.). Place of publication not identified: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.