Protein Too High?

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dmpolansky
dmpolansky Posts: 38 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I asked my doctor about my diet & he said that I needed to eat 1600 calories, 200 g protein & 100 g carbs. I don't think that I can even eat that many grams of protein in a day! Is that too high?

Replies

  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
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    Since this is your doctor is saying this, what is the medical reason for a moderate carb and high protein? IMHO outside of medical issues I shoot for .8 grams a day per my body weight.

    Does this have to do with thyroid or other metabolic or hormone reasons?
  • dmpolansky
    dmpolansky Posts: 38 Member
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    I don't have thyroid problems. I do worry about diabetes since my dad was diagnosis with it a few years back.
  • dmpolansky
    dmpolansky Posts: 38 Member
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    The doc had put me on depression meds, & I gained weight. I guess he is just trying to help me combat it with the higher protein.
  • GothyFaery
    GothyFaery Posts: 762 Member
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    dmpolansky wrote: »
    The doc had put me on depression meds, & I gained weight. I guess he is just trying to help me combat it with the higher protein.

    Eating more protein won't automatically make you lose weight. Weight loss is all about calories. I would ask your doctor to explain why he wants you on so much protein. In my non-medical experience, if I didn't like his answer, I wouldn't listen.
  • brb_2013
    brb_2013 Posts: 1,197 Member
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    What's your goal weight? I feel like 1g per pound of lean body mass is the high end. So for me that's 150g per day as an estimate. I'm aiming for 120 though, thats .8g per pound.

    I also think 200 is too much. I can hardly fit in 120 let alone 150.
  • Meganthedogmom
    Meganthedogmom Posts: 1,639 Member
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    That would be a lot of protein for me. I try to eat at least 100g per day, and my calorie goal is 1530 before exercise.
  • feisty_bucket
    feisty_bucket Posts: 1,047 Member
    edited May 2016
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    dmpolansky wrote: »
    he said that I needed to eat 1600 calories, 200 g protein & 100 g carbs

    Are you certain that's accurate? Because I'm pretty sure that's impossible.

    As a rule of thumb, really good protein sources are about 10 calories per gram. Whey powder is a little better than that ratio, and straight beef is a little worse.

    So if we say it's a wash, you're looking at a diet of around 2000 calories of whey powder and meat, daily, which is... unlikely.

    One common recommendation for protein is .64g per pound of bodyweight.
    Another newer one is 1.5-2.2g of protein per kg of bodyweight.

    I don't know your weight, but it'd be easy to calculate a range from those.
    For example: me, at 170lbs bodyweight =
    a) 109g protein or
    b) 115-170g
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
    edited May 2016
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    Wow. Sure like to know the reasoning behind those numbers. I'm currently on a 1600-calorie-a-day cut, and I have to work pretty hard to average 120g a day. My highest protein day in the last week was 170g, and that was out of 1800 calories.

    OK, it's sort of do-able (for example, 4 pounds (!!!!) of Fage nonfat greek yogurt would be 192g of protein, 76g of carbs and 1068 calories, leaving you a whopping 532 calories for other food), but you'd have to be obsessive as hell to pull it off long term.
  • sympha01
    sympha01 Posts: 942 Member
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    feisty_bucket wrote: »
    dmpolansky wrote: »
    he said that I needed to eat 1600 calories, 200 g protein & 100 g carbs

    Are you certain that's accurate? Because I'm pretty sure that's impossible.

    As a rule of thumb, really good protein sources are about 10 calories per gram. Whey powder is a little better than that ratio, and straight beef is a little worse.

    So if we say it's a wash, you're looking at a diet of around 2000 calories of whey powder and meat, daily, which is... unlikely.

    Sorry, um, no. I'm not even sure what you're talking about 10 calories per gram -- gram of protein, or gram of protein-ish food? Because the former is simply untrue -- protein is 4 calories per gram -- and the latter is absurd. The amount of calories in a food by weight is going to be driven at least partly by whether it's a very "wet" food whose weight includes lots of water (e.g. lean meat) or not (e.g. powders). 1 gram of chicken breast contains about 0.2 g of protein and 1.2 calories.

    So your doctor is prescribing:
    200 g protein (= 800 calories)
    100 g carbs (= 400 calories)
    1600 calories - 800 - 400 = 400 calories balance remaining for fat (9 calories per gram) and alcohol (7 calories per gram).

    Weights are exclusive of water.

    That said, that's an unusual diet. Unless your doctor is also a medical weight loss expert -- protip: few doctors are, doctors receive little to no training in this area -- there's no reason to take this particular diet plan as gospel.

    The advice to get anywhere from 0.8g up to 2g of protein per lb of bodyweight is pretty solid. The higher amount is better for people who are running large calorie deficits and/or are working out a lot, because both of those conditions tend to lead to spent muscle mass, which eating more protein can help counteract.
  • kirstinethornburg
    kirstinethornburg Posts: 300 Member
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    I would ask your Doctor for a referral for nutrional consultation and talk to a nutritoninst as well as ask him why he wants you to eat that much protein.
  • canadiankid1977
    canadiankid1977 Posts: 5 Member
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    sympha01 wrote: »
    feisty_bucket wrote: »
    dmpolansky wrote: »
    he said that I needed to eat 1600 calories, 200 g protein & 100 g carbs

    Are you certain that's accurate? Because I'm pretty sure that's impossible.

    As a rule of thumb, really good protein sources are about 10 calories per gram. Whey powder is a little better than that ratio, and straight beef is a little worse.

    So if we say it's a wash, you're looking at a diet of around 2000 calories of whey powder and meat, daily, which is... unlikely.

    Sorry, um, no. I'm not even sure what you're talking about 10 calories per gram -- gram of protein, or gram of protein-ish food? Because the former is simply untrue -- protein is 4 calories per gram -- and the latter is absurd. The amount of calories in a food by weight is going to be driven at least partly by whether it's a very "wet" food whose weight includes lots of water (e.g. lean meat) or not (e.g. powders). 1 gram of chicken breast contains about 0.2 g of protein and 1.2 calories.

    So your doctor is prescribing:
    200 g protein (= 800 calories)
    100 g carbs (= 400 calories)
    1600 calories - 800 - 400 = 400 calories balance remaining for fat (9 calories per gram) and alcohol (7 calories per gram).

    Weights are exclusive of water.

    That said, that's an unusual diet. Unless your doctor is also a medical weight loss expert -- protip: few doctors are, doctors receive little to no training in this area -- there's no reason to take this particular diet plan as gospel.

    The advice to get anywhere from 0.8g up to 2g of protein per lb of bodyweight is pretty solid. The higher amount is better for people who are running large calorie deficits and/or are working out a lot, because both of those conditions tend to lead to spent muscle mass, which eating more protein can help counteract.

    This breakdown is correct. However, if you are eating 2g of protein per 1lb you better be busting your hump though...really hard...
  • rollerjog
    rollerjog Posts: 154 Member
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    the best way i found out how much protein i need a day is first go get a hydrostatic body fat test then you will see how much fat and muscle you really have on your body once you get them numbers then take your muscle mass at 0% body fat X .75 to 1.5, so lets say someone was 100 pounds of lean muscle mass at 0% body fat you would take between 75 grams and 150 grams it all depends on your activity level, less activity maybe shot for 75 100 grams more active 125 to 150 grams these numbers are not set in stone you got to figure out what works for you everybodys differant good luck
  • dmpolansky
    dmpolansky Posts: 38 Member
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    Wow! Thanks for all the advice! Think I'll ask the doc for his reasoning plus find a nutritionist to give me some advice.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
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    dmpolansky wrote: »
    Wow! Thanks for all the advice! Think I'll ask the doc for his reasoning plus find a nutritionist to give me some advice.

    Dietician.

    Any jock with a Cracker Jack badge can call themselves a nutritionist and pass out all kinds of derpy misinformation.
  • feisty_bucket
    feisty_bucket Posts: 1,047 Member
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    sympha01 wrote: »
    gram of protein-ish food?

    Yep.
    200 g protein (= 800 calories)

    The closest I found was two pounds of chicken breast at 1000 calories. What I'm saying is that I very much doubt she's gonna choke that down every day. Or should.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,395 MFP Moderator
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    As others have said, you don't need that much protein. .8-1g per lb of lean body mass (not weight) is ideal for those aiming to sustain their lean body mass during a deficit. If you are worried about diabetes, than maintaining an active lifestyle and maintaining a healthy body weight will help you achieve that since no one particular macronutrient causes diabetes. Weight loss will still come down to eating few calories than you expend. If you want to do that with a moderate or low carb approach, by all means, because weight loss and sustainment is most likely to happen when you find a sustainable approach.

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