Why we need more protein...

tam120

I believe MFP does not provide for adequate protein in the nutrition recommendations, especially since most of us are exercising regularly.

Excerpt from Runner's World:

"With every footstrike, a runner carries two to seven times his or her body weight," says Douglas Kalman, Ph.D., R.D., who has done extensive research on the effects of protein in athletes. "Protein is what keeps your body healthy under all that strain." Adequate protein intake accelerates muscle growth and speeds recovery by helping rebuild muscle fibers stressed during a run. Since protein helps muscles heal faster, runners who consume the right amount are less likely to get injured. The reverse is also true, according to the authors of the ISSN paper: Athletes who get insufficient amounts of protein are at a higher risk of injury.

What's more, high-protein intake has been shown to help maintain a strong immune system. "After an intense bout of exercise, your immune system is weakened for about four to five hours," says Richard Kreider, Ph.D., one of the ISSN study's authors and head of the Exercise and Nutrition Laboratory at Baylor University. "Protein stimulates white blood cells, which helps shield against upper-respiratory problems." Military research studies show that Marines who ingested high amounts of protein had fewer medical visits than those with lower protein intake.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/1,7120,s6-242-300--12554-0,00.html?cm_mmc=TrainingExtra_NL-_-06092011-_-nutrition-_-FUEL: Protein Booster

Crystal817

I don't think I really need a lot of added protein, but I'm always over 47g that mfp gives me.

fitaliciag

AMEN!!! I totally agree, I was just thinking that the other day!

morganadk2_deleted

you can change the ratio to any thig you want .. Goels, change goals,Custom: Manually set my own custom fitness goals ,continue,start with Carbohydrates, and work your way down , make sure they add up to a 100% then click change goals! done...

Azdak

MFP is not a medical website. Any general health information presented by the website owner (in this case, the built in calculators) needs to conform to the broadest consensus standards issued by professional health organizations. To do otherwise would be a foolishly increased liability exposure.

In the community boards, people are free to express whatever ideas, advice they want, and provide links (such as yours) to information that others can read. The site then provides the ability for users to customize their "recommendations" to whatever they think is best for themselves.

That's really the only practical way it can work. And I think the ability to customize your own program is one of the strengths of MFP.

MyBeautyIsSkinDeep

Thanks for this info!! One of my friends and I was just talking about way I should increase the protein in my diet , because of the exercising that I am doing now!! JUST STARTED TO JOG A LITTLE !!! It take me about 15 mins to finish but it is more than what I was doing !! So this info that you post has hit home and i plan on doing better with my protein intake !! THANKS AGAIN!!

suzycreamcheese

i know this in theory, but has anyone actually noticed their performance improve with added protein, or not, because i have recently stopped religiously trying to get more protein, and i dont really think its affected my performance much, if at all

Azdak

i know this in theory, but has anyone actually noticed their performance improve with added protein, or not, because i have recently stopped religiously trying to get more protein, and i dont really think its affected my performance much, if at all

I think there are two issues here. One is the role that modestly increased protein intake plays in increasing satiety and conserving lean mass when dieting. To me, that is by far the most applicable reason for those on a weight loss program to increase protein intake above the RDA.

The other primary reason is to support a more vigorous exercise routine. I would suspect that the average person who exercises will notice little or no difference (outside of an anecdotal or placebo effect). However, modestly increasing protein intake (to 1.0 to 2.0 g per kg body weight) carries little or no risk (other than maybe depleting your wallet on overpriced supplements), so I can't think of any strong reason to recommend against it.

SHBoss1673

Protein's what fat was in the 80's and 90's with regards to the nutrition community. Lots of people have lots of very diverse opinions on it.

There's a great article in OnFitness this month about it. Basically the author (Jade Teta) talks about how we should exercise caution against believing the hype to much. And about how the China study was flawed in numerous ways (I've said this many times in the past, it's a worthwhile study, but leave a lot of questions, and comes to some questionable conclusions about the link between protein and cancer).

Also, what Azdak said, MFP's not going to give you high protein goals because to do so would leave out many people that DON'T need it. Especially considering it's quite easy to set your goals up, then customize them to what ever you like. (My protein is set to about 30%)

fitnhealthyccthatsme

Found this... http://www.howmuchprotein.com/daily-protein-intake.php

maybe it will be of help :-)

suzycreamcheese

The other primary reason is to support a more vigorous exercise routine. I would suspect that the average person who exercises will notice little or no difference (outside of an anecdotal or placebo effect). However, modestly increasing protein intake (to 1.0 to 2.0 g per kg body weight) carries little or no risk (other than maybe depleting your wallet on overpriced supplements), so I can't think of any strong reason to recommend against it.

i run 4/5 days a week, probably 40/45 miles (60/70km) a week in total. what benefit could i hope to see, and if i havent seen any benefit so far, does that mean im unlikely to get any?

chrisdavey

The other primary reason is to support a more vigorous exercise routine. I would suspect that the average person who exercises will notice little or no difference (outside of an anecdotal or placebo effect). However, modestly increasing protein intake (to 1.0 to 2.0 g per kg body weight) carries little or no risk (other than maybe depleting your wallet on overpriced supplements), so I can't think of any strong reason to recommend against it.

i run 4/5 days a week, probably 40/45 miles (60/70km) a week in total. what benefit could i hope to see, and if i havent seen any benefit so far, does that mean im unlikely to get any?

That is a lot of distance. Increased protein intake should help to preserve lean body mass if you are still at a calorie deficit. Resistance training will also help. My boss is a top level triathlete and her times have dropped (specifically run) since doing more core work.

I've also found that the only time I don't have a post workout shake (protein and carbs) I have had a worse case of DOMS.

fteale

I think that is talking about extremes, though. Your body only uses a relatively small amount of protein compared to the amount most Western meat eaters eat, and the excess doesn't help build bigger muscles. It puts strain on the kidneys and is laid down as fat. I think most people on here eat far too much protein. Unless you have a cruddy diet or are an elite athlete, you don't need protein shakes, and yet most people on here seem to have them every day.

bbush18

MFP is not a medical website. Any general health information presented by the website owner (in this case, the built in calculators) needs to conform to the broadest consensus standards issued by professional health organizations. To do otherwise would be a foolishly increased liability exposure.

In the community boards, people are free to express whatever ideas, advice they want, and provide links (such as yours) to information that others can read. The site then provides the ability for users to customize their "recommendations" to whatever they think is best for themselves.

That's really the only practical way it can work. And I think the ability to customize your own program is one of the strengths of MFP.

I agree!

Azdak

The other primary reason is to support a more vigorous exercise routine. I would suspect that the average person who exercises will notice little or no difference (outside of an anecdotal or placebo effect). However, modestly increasing protein intake (to 1.0 to 2.0 g per kg body weight) carries little or no risk (other than maybe depleting your wallet on overpriced supplements), so I can't think of any strong reason to recommend against it.

i run 4/5 days a week, probably 40/45 miles (60/70km) a week in total. what benefit could i hope to see, and if i havent seen any benefit so far, does that mean im unlikely to get any?

I doubt you are going to notice any great change--but that doesn't mean there would be no benefit. The main benefit is that you will have sufficient protein available to meet the body's needs. The recommendations for increased protein intake for endurance athletes are more based on replacing what is being used vs supplying "extra".

Part of the issue as well is that recommendations are often based on the needs of athletes, but then they are generalized (sometimes improperly) or adopted by more casual exercisers. The recommendations for endurance athletes are 1.2-1.6g/kg per day--that is party due to the fact that endurance athletes tend to have a smaller overall mass than strength athletes.

Again, I don't think it is that big a deal for the average recreational exerciser. If you think you might need it, 1g/kg per day is not an excessive amount and can often be ingested through your normal diet. People resort to protein shakes and bars for a variety of reasons--convenience, autosuggestion, etc--but there is nothing magic about them.

bcattoes

I think that is talking about extremes, though. Your body only uses a relatively small amount of protein compared to the amount most Western meat eaters eat, and the excess doesn't help build bigger muscles. It puts strain on the kidneys and is laid down as fat. I think most people on here eat far too much protein. Unless you have a cruddy diet or are an elite athlete, you don't need protein shakes, and yet most people on here seem to have them every day.

Yeah, I agree. Protein shakes seem unnecessary for most people and probably inhibit weight loss more often than help. Most days I go a little over on what MFP thinks I should have in protein but not my much.

SHBoss1673

Protein's what fat was in the 80's and 90's with regards to the nutrition community. Lots of people have lots of very diverse opinions on it.

There's a great article in OnFitness this month about it. Basically the author (Jade Teta) talks about how we should exercise caution against believing the hype to much. And about how the China study was flawed in numerous ways (I've said this many times in the past, it's a worthwhile study, but leave a lot of questions, and comes to some questionable conclusions about the link between protein and cancer).

Also, what Azdak said, MFP's not going to give you high protein goals because to do so would leave out many people that DON'T need it. Especially considering it's quite easy to set your goals up, then customize them to what ever you like. (My protein is set to about 30%)

"questionable conclusions about the link between protein and cancer" your talking about animal based protien not plant based right ? I have read quite a bit about this posibility of animal based protien and cancer as well. But I have yet to see anything supporting a theroy about plant based proteins.

the China study had some pretty "concrete sounding" conclusions in it's report. But the problem was they only took some of the results in it's findings, for instance, while they commented on how more protein affected cancer rates one way, they neglected to talk about how they were affected similarly for those with low protein, also they neglected to talk about other aspects of the diets involved, and to some degree lifestyle choices. That's why survey based studies are suspect in many cases, it's very difficult to make any but the broadest conclusions from a study where you don't have a control group, and you can't tightly control the conditions of the subjects.

suzycreamcheese

interesting, thanks. I do try and get protein from my food, but i just dont bother with shakes etc anymore, as i just found they made my tummy feel weird and didnt really improve my performance noticeably

tam120

All I'm saying is: I've seen people question their protein intake if it's over what MFP suggests. Mine is always over and in the beginning I was concerned that I should try to reduce my protein intake. I did some reading and realized MFP was a bit low so my suggestion is to do some reading if you're concerned and I provided one example of what I've read. Please don't interpret this as a suggestion to take in extreme amounts of protein if you're working out at high intensity.

I think my use of the word "adequate" was inappropriate for the point I was trying to make.