Protein intake non essential amino acids

dtaber38

Could someone please tell me if I should be counting protein that doesn’t contain all the essential amino acids, such as that from wheat etc towards my daily goals, as I keep going over my protein goals because myfitness counts everything.

psuLemon

There really is no need to overcomplicate things. Just aim for a variety of nutrients and get some protein from animal sources. Its really the 1% that need to worry about that.

dtaber38

I’m trying to add muscle mass though, so surely only whole protein sources should count, no?
Would obviously make counting macros more complicated if it were to be the case.

sardelsa

I've thought about this but in the end as long as I make sure the majority of my protein intake is from complete sources, I don't worry too much about it.

dtaber38

I eat mostly from complete sources, however if you have whole meal pasta, or noodles etc, they can have up to 12g of protein, which means I’m having to reduce the amount of meat I cook, which can leave me hungry in between meals.

sardelsa

dtaber38 wrote: »

I eat mostly from complete sources, however if you have whole meal pasta, or noodles etc, they can have up to 12g of protein, which means I’m having to reduce the amount of meat I cook, which can leave me hungry in between meals.

Why would you have to reduce the meat?

Maybe set your protein goal higher to compensate for it? I am for a range so for example 130-160g

dtaber38

I aim for around 41g of protein per meal. So if I get 12g from carb sources etc. I would deduct this total from my meat source, so I’d have 29g protein. Is this not correct? Before I was just going with the 41g from meat, but going way over on my daily protein intake?

sijomial

dtaber38 wrote: »

I eat mostly from complete sources, however if you have whole meal pasta, or noodles etc, they can have up to 12g of protein, which means I’m having to reduce the amount of meat I cook, which can leave me hungry in between meals.

If you regarded your protein goal as a minimum like many do this issue would go away.

sardelsa

dtaber38 wrote: »

I aim for around 41g of protein per meal. So if I get 12g from carb sources etc. I would deduct this total from my meat source, so I’d have 29g protein. Is this not correct? Before I was just going with the 41g from meat, but going way over on my daily protein intake?

First and foremost you want to hit your calorie goal, so you don't want to keep increasing protein without compensating something else. I treat protein as a minimum and prioritize it, also my fats as a minimum and let the carbs make up for the difference to hit my goal.

Also I wouldn't worry about hitting a certain specific goal per meal unless that is your preference, I am for a range, so 20-50g per snack or meal. Now the majority will come from meat, fish, dairy (including whey supplements), eggs, secondary from beans, legumes, grains. Then other small sources such as nuts and such.

lemurcat2

dtaber38 wrote: »

I’m trying to add muscle mass though, so surely only whole protein sources should count, no?
Would obviously make counting macros more complicated if it were to be the case.

If you eat a variety of sources even the ones without complete sources should complement each other (such as beans and grains) such that they add up. Also, you don't have to eat them at the same time for that to work.

Bigger point, as others have said, there's no need to limit protein so long as you are hitting your cals anyway.

dtaber38

sardelsa wrote: »

dtaber38 wrote: »

I aim for around 41g of protein per meal. So if I get 12g from carb sources etc. I would deduct this total from my meat source, so I’d have 29g protein. Is this not correct? Before I was just going with the 41g from meat, but going way over on my daily protein intake?

First and foremost you want to hit your calorie goal, so you don't want to keep increasing protein without compensating something else. I treat protein as a minimum and prioritize it, also my fats as a minimum and let the carbs make up for the difference to hit my goal.

Also I wouldn't worry about hitting a certain specific goal per meal unless that is your preference, I am for a range, so 20-50g per snack or meal. Now the majority will come from meat, fish, dairy (including whey supplements), eggs, secondary from beans, legumes, grains. Then other small sources such as nuts and such.

So do you not count from other sources such as carbs? My minimum would be 154g protein, which is 1g per lbs of body weight. So yesterday I increased this to 1.3 to try and compensate for incomplete proteins. So should I be aiming for 154 as a minimum but from compete sources?

AnnPT77

Speaking as a long-term vegetarian, I feel like you're making this more complex than it needs to be. Your 154g goal is fine. If you get most of your protein from animal/complete sources, and the rest (a more minor amount) from varied other less-complete sources, you should also be fine.

Dietitians I've read have suggested only around a 10% increase in total protein for people who get *most* of their protein from plant sources (along with a recommendation to prefer more EAA complete plant sources and vary the sources). You're talking about a 30% increase, with (so I gather) most of your protein coming from EAA complete sources. It's not necessary.

Just aim for the 154, get most of it from complete sources, as other omnivores targeting muscle gain have commented already. Keep it simple.