There are so many tips and opinions available for how much protein you should be eating on daily basis. Those information can be summarize into "we need to eat more protein", "too much protein will make you fat", "our body doesn't digest more than 30g of protein at a time", and so on.
Just like any other nutrition information, the amount of protein required for YOU is depending on YOUR objective. It has nothing to do with someone else was successful in certain amount of protein that YOU should be doing the same.
From a science perspective depending on what you are wanting to accomplish, protein intake can vary from 1.2g/kg of your body weight (.54g/lb) to 3.3g/kg (1.5g/lb).
To understand what amount of protein YOU should be eating is based on 3 things. Let's go over those 3 things.
1. What is your goal?
The first thing you need to consider is the purpose of your protein intake. Are you planning you increase muscle mass or are you wanting to maintain muscle mass while losing fat? Some people just want to be in good health and neither thinking about gaining muscle or losing fat.
2. What is your activity level?
Protein intake can vary from your activity level. If you have sedentary lifestyle then you probably do not need as much protein as those who are athletes who are trying to increase strength during off season.
3. What is your current condition?
The condition I am referring to is whether you are in healthy body weight, overweight, pregnant and so on. If you are overweight or obese, you want to increase your protein, however, it is not limit less.
Let's talk about how much protein a person will need, considering the 3 things discussed above.
If you have sedentary lifestyle where you are in front of computer at work, you should aim for at least 0.54g/lb of your body weight. Of course as your activity level goes up, such as start working out or hiking over the weekend then this number should increase.
For healthy individual who are active and wanting to maintain their lean muscle mass, they should be aiming for 0.64g/lb to 0.73g/lb of protein per day.
If you are healthy individual, who are active and wish to increase muscle mass then the amount of protein would be from 0.64g/lb to 1.09g/lb.
If you are healthy individual, who are wanting to lose fat, you should aim for 0.82g/lb to 1.24g/lb.
If you are obese or overweight, regardless of your activity level, you should aim for 0.54g/lb to 0.68g/lb. The weight you should be calculating is your current body weight and do not need to be calculating with your ideal body weight.
Amount of protein illustrated above seems to work for older adults (50 year old+).
Pregnant women may need 0.77g/lb of protein to support both fetus and themselves.
Case Study 1
Let's say we've got 200 lb overweight individual. This person should be consuming anywhere between 108 g to 136 g of protein a day. One of the reason to keep the protein intake not too high for obese or overweight individual is because of insulin. In protein there is a amino acid call alanine, which does promote secretion of insulin. Although insulin spike are not significant compared with carbohydrate, however, those who are overweight or obese already have insulin in bloodstream to take are of. Therefore, along with minimizing carbohydrate intake optimizing of protein is often suggested.
Case Study 2
If 120 lb individual wanting to build muscle, their protein intake can range from 76.8 g to 130.8 g per day.
Case Study 3
If 140 lb individual who is 65 is wanting to maintain muscle but lose fat should be consuming 114.8 g to 173.6 g
Things to keep in mind
Protein amount should not be determined by the age of the individual or the amount of calorie that individual should be consuming. It is directly proportion to the individual's weight.
Study have not found any kidney, liver, or bone issues up to 1.5g/lb of protein, however, individual with existing health issue with kidney or liver may need to consult with their physician or dietitian to plan out the protein intake.
Our body not able to digest more than x gram of protein is a myth. Once food goes into the digestive system then food will be digested. If over consumed, protein, after broke down to amino acid level will be in the pool until it is needed. Body is constantly going through breaking down and repair, over consumption of protein will not hurt your body.
For weight loss standpoint, protein is more satiating than carbohydrate or fat. Protein can come from both animal or vegetable products. Choice is based on what works for you and not on what has been working for others.
Kota Shimada
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