The Enlightened, So I Think: October 2013

Diet, Disease & Nutrition - Part2: PROTEIN continued....

So, how much Protein do I need per day?

The long answer is, the amount of protein required in a person's diet is determined :

Overall energy intake,

Body's need for nitrogen and essential amino-acids

Body weight and composition

Growth rate of the individual

Level of Physical activity

Energy and carbohydrate intake

Presence of illness or injury

So, if you're physically active and exercise, exert your body and have a need for enhanced muscular mass, the need for protein increases. Protein requirements is greater during childhood for growth and development, during pregnancy or when breast-feeding in order to nourish a baby, or when the body needs to recover from malnutrition or trauma or after an operation.

If enough energy is not taken in through diet, as in the process of starvation, the body will use protein from the muscle mass to meet its energy needs, leading to muscle wasting over time. If the individual does not consume adequate protein in nutrition, then muscle will also waste as more vital cellular processes (e.g. respiration enzymes, blood cells) recycle muscle protein for their own requirements.

According to US & Canadian Dietary Reference Intake guidelines, women aged 19–70 need to consume 46 grams of protein per day, while men aged 19–70 need to consume 56 grams of protein per day to avoid a deficiency.The generally accepted daily protein dietary allowance, measured as intake per kilogram of body weight, is 0.8 g/kg. However, this recommendation is based on structural requirements, but disregards use of protein for energy metabolism. This requirement is for a normal sedentary person.

Several studies have concluded that active people and athletes may require elevated protein intake (compared to 0.8 g/kg) due to increase in muscle mass and sweat losses, as well as need for body repair and energy source. Suggested amounts vary between 1.6 g/kg and 1.8 g/kg, while a proposed maximum daily protein intake would be approximately 25% of energy requirements i.e. approximately 2 to 2.5 g/kg.

However, if you're looking for a short answer, refer to the table-1 below:

You could also, calculate using the link from University of Maryland Medical System:

Myths about Protein:

Myth#1: I'm getting all the Protein I need from my food.

Truth: If you're an adult weighing 60kg, going by the bare minimum from the above table-1, you'd need 48gms of Protein per day. Refer to the link for Protein content in various foods and food preparations Food Protein Chart

Myth #2: Plant proteins are incomplete and need to be part of a meat-based diet to deliver adequate protein.

Truth: All vegetables and grains contain eight of the essential amino acids and the 12 other nonessential ones. Beans have more protein per calorie than meat. Moderate consumption of red meat, as little as one serving a day poses a more serious health risk than first thought. (Research from the Harvard School of Public Health)

Myth #3 To build muscle you need lots of protein daily. (Bodybuilders say you need 30 – 40 percent protein or more!)

Truth: Athletes and very active people only need 1.6-2.0 g/kg BW per day according to research. Inactive people need even less. Human breast milk is only about 6 percent protein, yet a baby grows lots of lean tissue on a diet of exclusively mother’s milk.

Myth #4: Excess Protein just turn to FAT

Truth: Protein needs to be broken down into amino acids and absorbed. That process alone burns about five times as many calories as the process of breaking down carbohydrates to glucose. Once the amino acids are available, they can be used for growth and repair or converted to glucose. If they are to be converted, that requires some energy again. The body will turn protein to glucose when necessary, but it prefers not to. If the glucose isn’t needed, it can then be converted to fat. You can’t turn protein directly into fat. At some wildly excessive point, you might be able to eat so much protein that it could become useless and get stored as fat. However, protein has such a potent effect on reducing appetite, you wouldn’t be able to eat that excessive level on a daily basis. You’d also expend a lot of energy as heat with the excessive protein intake. If you’ve ever let loose at a Brazilian steak house, you know what the meat sweats feel like. I would also steer clear of any “expert” who suggests too much protein will make you fat as he or she probably believes weight management is about counting calories.

So, what should I do to get adequate protein in my daily diet?

After looking into the Food Protein Chart, if you still believe you could make it with your regular diet, god help you!

You should look at adding more sprouts, cereals and pulses to your diet along with supplementing your diet with good quality Protein Supplements. I would recommend you to consume anywhere between a minimum of 10gms to a maximum of 20gms of quality protein supplement along with juice/milk/water.

When you're looking for a good quality protein supplement, check out if that source conforms to these standards:

PDCAAS - score of the source is 1.00

Contains atleast 9 amino-acids among 11 of these - Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Cysteine, Phenalalanine, Tyrosine, Threonine, Tryptophan, Valine, Histidine

Low Fat

Low Carbohydrate

Soy or Whey or Animal based Protein?

This could be a discussion topic in itself. The competition is between Soy or Whey and certainly not animal based proteins like cheese, chicken, red-meat or whole milk - refer to myth#2.

There are many articles talking about pros and cons of Soy / Whey. I would let you decide, however my 2 cents on easing your pain of looking for many answers is.

Whey:

If you're highly active, an athlete or someone who's into body building - go for whey on days when you're hitting your peak. Other days fall back to Soy so you're feeling light.

Soy:

If you're anyone from sedentary to active, stick with Soy. You feel lighter and your body can process this protein better.

Excess consumption

Typically, in the current scenario, we're more looking towards a protein deficient, high fat/high calorie diets instead of high protein diets. However, if you're consuming excess protein, its easier to reduce as this doesn't taste great anyways unlike the fat/carb which we love to eat. Ideally, if you stick to the above table or the calculator, you'll never be in excess.

However, if you have Uric Acid / Kidney Problem / Thyroid / Gout or other issues which prevent from consuming Proteins, please check with your Doctor. In my personal opinion, you'd still need 5-10gms of quality protein. Why?

Multiple studies have been done on higher protein intakes, which have found that higher protein intake is completely safe. In the short-term the body adapts to the higher protein intakes which changes some markers of kidney function. This is part of the adaptation process to the additional protein. However, long-term consumption of higher amounts of protein do not have a negative impact on kidney function.

As the authors of a recent study said, “In conclusion, this study, the longest and most comprehensive to date on the effects of a low-carbohydrate high-protein diet on renal function, revealed that the diet was not associated with noticeably harmful effects on GFR, albuminuria, or fluid and electrolyte balance compared with a low-fat diet in obese individuals without pre-existing kidney disease.”