How much protein do we really need?

Eleted

I'd love to know how much protein everyone is consuming. Everywhere , I hear and have read that to be healthy and lose weight, you must consume a great deal of protein. But when you read about people who live in the Blue Zones in the world and are living long and healthy lives, protein is not always a huge component of their meals. However, since limiting my calories, I really struggle with energy. What does everyone think?

kommodevaran

I think balance and variety and overall nutrition, plus enjoyment, is more important than any single foods or nutrients. And that that's why a lot of different diets (as in what you feed yourself, not as in crazy fads) and macro splits can work, also for the same individual.

First of all, make sure you aren't eating too little. If you have chosen a too aggressive weight loss rate, your calorie goal may be too low to keep your energy up, and in time it will force you to give up. You can safely and realistically lose up to 1% of your body weight per week, as a rule of thumb.

I'm eating around 70 grams of protein per day (I'm in maintenance and don't track anymore, and varies from day to day, but on average I'm sure it's around there, I had that as a goal when losing weight) and I my weight range is 55-58 kilos (122-127 pounds).

DHLFITNESS25

1 gram of protein per 1 pound of body weight. So if you weigh 115 pounds you consume 115 grams of protein.

Some people do as little as .8 and as high as 1.5(wouldn't go above that, not needed)

1g per pound is a good number!

darrensurrey

The 1g/lb is a good guide. Even if you end up at half that, it isn't really a problem. I used to eat on average one small piece of meat a day (and very little dairy or beans) but was active pretty much everyday so didn't get fat.

And too much is something like 600g a day if your kidneys are healthy.

85Cardinals

For people trying to lose weight, eating enough protein helps minimize the amount of muscle you're losing and maximize the amount of fat.

Wickedfaery73

I weigh 195lbs right now... I don't think I could that much protein! LOL and it would be half or more of current my daily calories. Someone once told me it was .6 to 1gram per pound of GOAL weight but I haven't researched that for myself. I have a hard time reaching my protein goal of %30

kommodevaran

Protein goal should be calculated from lean body mass. But what numbers to use, is the hot topic!

SFBMCBuck

I am currently 243.8 lbs trying to get to 225. I spoke to a nutritionist and he recommended a 160/150/60 (p/c/f) without any calorie recommendations (MFP recommended 2070 daily calories). I have lost a total of 15.2 lbs in a month but have difficulty hitting my protein goals and staying within my caloric restrictions. I recently added protein powders (ISOPURE and PROMASS II) and have been doing better but rarely hitting 160 grams of protein. So, I have heard the 1 lbs per 1 lbs of bodyweight but not sure how that would be possible within a low calorie diet.

Eleted

Thank you all. This is great information and regardless of the exact formula, I am falling way short on protein consumption. Yikes!

Packerjohn

I eat about 190-200g of protein a day at 205 lbs. Recommendation is 10-35% of calories from protein. Based on my average calories, protein is making up 30% of calories a day.

http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/Reports/2002/Dietary-Reference-Intakes-for-Energy-Carbohydrate-Fiber-Fat-Fatty-Acids-Cholesterol-Protein-and-Amino-Acids.aspx

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/calculate-protein-rda-2274.html

kwtilbury

SFBMCBuck wrote: »

I am currently 243.8 lbs trying to get to 225. I spoke to a nutritionist and he recommended a 160/150/60 (p/c/f) without any calorie recommendations (MFP recommended 2070 daily calories). I have lost a total of 15.2 lbs in a month but have difficulty hitting my protein goals and staying within my caloric restrictions. I recently added protein powders (ISOPURE and PROMASS II) and have been doing better but rarely hitting 160 grams of protein. So, I have heard the 1 lbs per 1 lbs of bodyweight but not sure how that would be possible within a low calorie diet.

That macro split results in 1,780 daily calories. You're correct, it's almost impossible to hit 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (even lean body weight) at that much of a caloric restriction.

Michael190lbs

it really depends on your goals you could more than likely get away with 50 grams a day and live a healthy life personally I like to carry a bit more muscle so keep mine at 150 and above. I enjoy foods that have a lot of protein (beef chicken fish shrimp crab legs) so protein and Fat are never an issue for me. I have just recently added more carbs into my diet (rice, pasta, beans, veggies) and now consume about 150 grams of carbs a day..

Wickedfaery73

Packerjohn wrote: »

I eat about 190-200g of protein a day at 205 lbs. Recommendation is 10-35% of calories from protein. Based on my average calories, protein is making up 30% of calories a day.

http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/Reports/2002/Dietary-Reference-Intakes-for-Energy-Carbohydrate-Fiber-Fat-Fatty-Acids-Cholesterol-Protein-and-Amino-Acids.aspx

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/calculate-protein-rda-2274.html

How many calories a day are you eating?

withoutasaddle

No no no. It's .8g of protein per KILOGRAMof body weight. Not pound. But even without weighing yourself the AMA CDC and others only set the AI levels at around 50, depending on age and gender

Eleted

Recently went from1200 up to 1400 after 35 lb weight loss. I still have 10-15 lbs to loss. So according to the above calculations in the article I should hit around 70 grams of protein a day.

Wickedfaery73

withoutasaddle wrote: »

No no no. It's .8g of protein per KILOGRAMof body weight. Not pound. But even without weighing yourself the AMA CDC and others only set the AI levels at around 50, depending on age and gender

AHA! You are right, it's in the articles posted by Packerjohn. I am doing pretty good then because I would need about 89g of protein at 1g per KG

Hornsby

1gr per lb of lean mass.

Francl27

kommodevaran wrote: »

Protein goal should be calculated from lean body mass. But what numbers to use, is the hot topic!

This.

Not 1g of protein per g of body weight. 1g of protein per gram of LEAN body weight.

Obviously it requires some guessing though. I just used 30% as I was losing, knowing that going over is great. Now I aim for 110g on my 1800 calorie goal (I'm 136 pounds). I'm still over most days though.

kuranda10

I've always used these numbers based on activity levels (per lb of LBM)
Sedentary - .5g
Average - .6 (light activity, walking)
Light activity - .7 (moderate 30 min vigarous activity 3x a week)
Workout - .8 active (60 min a day 5x a week)
Training - .9 very active (10 hrs per week of vigarous activity)
Professional - 1.0

Packerjohn

Wickedfaery73 wrote: »

Packerjohn wrote: »

I eat about 190-200g of protein a day at 205 lbs. Recommendation is 10-35% of calories from protein. Based on my average calories, protein is making up 30% of calories a day.

http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/Reports/2002/Dietary-Reference-Intakes-for-Energy-Carbohydrate-Fiber-Fat-Fatty-Acids-Cholesterol-Protein-and-Amino-Acids.aspx

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/calculate-protein-rda-2274.html

How many calories a day are you eating?

2600-2700

Packerjohn

Wickedfaery73 wrote: »

withoutasaddle wrote: »

No no no. It's .8g of protein per KILOGRAMof body weight. Not pound. But even without weighing yourself the AMA CDC and others only set the AI levels at around 50, depending on age and gender

AHA! You are right, it's in the articles posted by Packerjohn. I am doing pretty good then because I would need about 89g of protein at 1g per KG

The 1g/kg will only get people to the lower level of the 10-35% calories from protein. I'm fairly active and want to maintain muscle mass so I got mid to upper end of the range.

Spliner1969

I try for .8g/lb of my target weight. Since my final goal is 190 that puts me around 152g of protein a day. Some days it's tough to hit it, but I get close. If I work out a lot that day I allow MFP to up my macros automatically so I'll try to stay at the .8 or go above it up to 190g. I've gone over that in a day, but usually only on days I do a ton (as in excess of 1000 calories) of exercise. I started at 305 lbs a little over a year ago, and if I had tried to hit .8 to 1g/lb at that weight I don't think I'd have lost as much weight as I did. So I always calculated my protein intake by my final goal weight.

stevencloser

withoutasaddle wrote: »

No no no. It's .8g of protein per KILOGRAMof body weight. Not pound. But even without weighing yourself the AMA CDC and others only set the AI levels at around 50, depending on age and gender

That's absolute minimums for sedentary people. And even that might change in the future.

http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/apnm-2015-0549

ElliInJapan

Protein is important in weight loss because it helps minimizing loss of muscle mass. For the average non-dieting population, the needs in protein are lower, which explains why there is no that much protein consumption in the blue zones. Basically the amount of protein you need depends on your goals and your current body composition.

Eleted

Thank you all so much! So much wisdom so quickly. I will implement your suggestions and knowledge and see if it makes a positive impact on energy and weight loss.

lemurcat12

kommodevaran wrote: »

I think balance and variety and overall nutrition, plus enjoyment, is more important than any single foods or nutrients. And that that's why a lot of different diets (as in what you feed yourself, not as in crazy fads) and macro splits can work, also for the same individual.

I agree with this.

OP, I have tended to eat about 105 grams of protein (often more), which is based on lean body mass (or an estimate that is .6-.85 g per lb of healthy body weight) and actually a bit more than what I needed. Over the past few weeks I've been trying out a mostly meatless diet with limited eggs and dairy, and tried to stick to 90 g, but often was below it (between 70 and 90) and I felt fine, although I find it easier to eat more protein so am going to include more animal sources again for a while.

What I understand of the research is that 1 g/kg of healthy body weight is plenty for normal purposes, but if you are really focused on either athletic performance or muscle gain or weight loss you will want a higher amount, such as the .6-.85 g number quoted above. That's because it can help with recovery/protecting muscle tear down when training, help with muscle building, of course, and -- most important for many on MFP -- reduce muscle loss when at a deficit, especially a higher deficit (although your deficit should of course not be too high anyway).

So my general theory is that I am not so concerned when at maintenance -- and that's the case with the populations in the Blue Zones you mentioned -- but do try to meet the higher range when losing weight.

MelaniaTrump

Minimum for non active female 46 grams a day.
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/protein

dopeysmelly

I ate more while I was losing - that 1g/lb lean body mass sounds about right. I now don't really bother a lot - I get around the 50g per day for a woman my age, and I feel just fine - lots of energy and no problem with muscle fatigue, and I've radically changed my diet for other health reasons. I guess the answer is that there are loads of different opinions out there - whatever you pick will probably work.

But if you want to retain your muscles while you are losing, you have to use them regardless of how much protein you eat.