The high protein intakes of MFPers
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thevegankelly
Posts: 85 Member
I have my desired macros set to 70/15/15 for carbs/fat/protein based on information from FOK, the China Study, etc., and I'm totally shocked whenever I'm over on the regular forums and see the protein recommendations people are giving out. People even smaller than me (I'm 5'5, 140 lb) who are not body builders by any means are taking in 100-140 grams of protein per day. Holy crap!
It seems like anytime someone has a problem the solution from the armchair nutritionists is to take in MORE PROTEIN and FEWER CARBS!!! I just read someone say that a poster's hair loss is probably due to protein being too low, but that's means their protein would have to be super low, like below 10% low, to cause problems like that.
What are you guys taking in, and do you feel totally out of place on the forums because our intake is lower?
It seems like anytime someone has a problem the solution from the armchair nutritionists is to take in MORE PROTEIN and FEWER CARBS!!! I just read someone say that a poster's hair loss is probably due to protein being too low, but that's means their protein would have to be super low, like below 10% low, to cause problems like that.
What are you guys taking in, and do you feel totally out of place on the forums because our intake is lower?
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Personally I just purchased the FOK book and just started reading. I haven't figured out my settings for carbs/fat/protein (how do you figure that out for yourself?) My trainer told me to eat 9 grams of protein with every meal. that is what I have been doing - is that wrong? Your post has me worried about myself.0
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I looked it up a while ago because I was concerned that I wasnt getting enough and it said for me 5'6" 130-135 lbs I should have around 30 grams per day. Sometimes Im over and sometimes Im under but I usually stay right around that without putting any effort in it. I agree some people are protein crazy, and the same people say carbs are bad. A person asked advise because they thought they were eating too many carbs and I looked at their diary and all their carbs were from plants, no chips etc. I replyed she didnt need to worry about carbs if they were "healthy" carbs. Needless to say I got crucified, everyone said, a carb is a carb no such thing as a good one or bad. I finally gave up agruing but I still dont understand the reasoning, according to them an orange is just as bad for you as a bag of doritos.0
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Your body needs carbs to live. People forget that's what our brains run on. Sure, a carb is a carb if all you care about is macros and losing weight, but they don't contain the same nutrients or have the same effects on your body!
And every time I look up RDAs for protein I get numbers around 50-60 for myself, which is similar to what my goals are set at. People get all these other crazy numbers from body building sites, and go with that, even though the needs of body builders are hugely different than the average joe.
I just looked at someone whose diary was nothing more than meat, eggs and peanut butter. Literally. Just those three things. Every day.0 -
so how do you figure how what is the right amount for you?0
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A healthy amount of protein (according to the big guys in plant-based) is 10-15%. I know a lot of people will do great with only 10% protein, but because I'm strength training and working out I aim for 15%. I'm not sure how much that would increase for body builders.
Higher fat intakes are linked to more health problems, so I try to keep my fat at 15% as well, but that's been a struggle because I do love me some nut butters. I think a better number would be 10%, but that's something I'm going to have to work towards. I usually hit about 20% in that area now, and that's down from 30%.
Here's an article I found about protein needs in plant-based athletes. It has some good info:
http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/vegan_athlete.pdf#xml=http://drfuhrman.master.com/texis/master/search/mysite.txt?q=protein&order=r&id=e8197a3a7c4048e1&cmd=xml
And a blog post from FOK:
http://www.forksoverknives.com/meeting-protein-needs-simply-by-eating/0 -
I think I set mine to that 70/15/15 as I thought I read people who were WFPB nutritionally just fell in that way - I plugged it in but I don't stress over meeting it - I always seem to be under no matter the percentage but in sugar with fruit, it bumps me over so I made fruits its own category - I also understand on this lifestyle complex carbs are necessary and important so when I eat ezekiel bread or whole foods pasta with nothing processed, I know I am ok - wow, to hear the other forum comments - crazy!0
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I try to keep mine set at 50-30-20. Rarely do I make it. Usually my carbs are higher, which I am okay with. I recently read that vegans are supposed to have more protein do to the fact that our bodies don't adsorb plant protein the same way as animal protein. From what I know, if I was a meat eater, I should be getting 48 grams, but since I am relying on plant sources, I should be getting around 69. As for fats, nut fats are healthy as long as they aren't over done. People need a balance of carbs, fats, and protein to function well.0
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I've set mine to 70/15/15. They've been set at this for over a year and all is well.0
