Protein and macros question

Some of the best reading on this site: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1

^ I would trust that thread!

..and when you get closer to goal: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

Christismylife wrote: »

Been doing a lot of strength training. Been trying to add more protein. I understand this is a debatable topic, but here are my questions.

1. How much protein is recommended daily for strength training (I am also working on losing weight, but trying to preserve lean body mass. My husband is trying to get stronger but doesn’t need to lose weight.)

2. I see the macros MyFitnessPal recommends. Do you do any different percentages? They have protein at 20%, but if I follow some recommendations I have read for protein (eg. 1 g per lb. of body weight) it puts that percentage more like 30-40% for me.

3. Is it unsafe to eat too much protein at some point?

.6-.8 grams per Lb of a healthy weight is a good target...this often equates to around 1 gram per Lb of LBM which is what has been recommended for decades. 1 gram per Lb of bodyweight is overkill. Not necessarily dangerous, but overkill and ultimately just making expensive glucose. I have no idea when 1 gram per Lb of bodyweight started to be the recommendation, but everything I've read on the subject says it's overkill...probably a bunch of bros.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Christismylife wrote: »

Been doing a lot of strength training. Been trying to add more protein. I understand this is a debatable topic, but here are my questions.

1. How much protein is recommended daily for strength training (I am also working on losing weight, but trying to preserve lean body mass. My husband is trying to get stronger but doesn’t need to lose weight.)

2. I see the macros MyFitnessPal recommends. Do you do any different percentages? They have protein at 20%, but if I follow some recommendations I have read for protein (eg. 1 g per lb. of body weight) it puts that percentage more like 30-40% for me.

3. Is it unsafe to eat too much protein at some point?

.6-.8 grams per Lb of a healthy weight is a good target...this often equates to around 1 gram per Lb of LBM which is what has been recommended for decades. 1 gram per Lb of bodyweight is overkill. Not necessarily dangerous, but overkill and ultimately just making expensive glucose. I have no idea when 1 gram per Lb of bodyweight started to be the recommendation, but everything I've read on the subject says it's overkill...probably a bunch of bros.

I agree with all of this. Eric Helms has some great info on this topic. He has 2 Masters and a PHD and has done extensive research and published papers. For convenience, he uses .8 grams per lb of body weight as an approximation of 1 gram per lb of lean mass.

There is lots of research on this topic and the only thing that is debatable is the nuances. The ballpark of the research based recommendations are all pretty similar. Some of the bro stuff is just silly overkill. @Chieflrg has referred to some research about MPS being mildly impaired as you age. He recommended more protein for older people for this reason. I haven't read this research myself but he is a pretty knowledgeable guy.

If you don't have a problem with the math use 0.8 grams per pound of body weight and you can't go wrong. You can probably get away with less, down to about 0.6 grams per pound is probably sufficient for building muscle, but shooting for 0.8 gives you a healthy buffer. If you hate the math just use 1 gram per pound. It's easy to calculate and easy to remember and since you say you're trying to lose weight it might help with satiety so you don't feel as hungry when you're in a calorie deficit.

Unfortunately, unless you pay, MFP won't let you set goals using absolute mass, you have to set it in percentages. I pay now, but when I didn't I'd just set the protein percentage to whatever gave me my protein target. Also, adding back your exercise calories messes with it. It increases your protein proportionally. Nothing wrong if you want to eat that much extra protein, but it's not useful for muscle building. Again, you just have to kind of eyeball it.

As to problems eating too much protein, there was a study years ago that posited a relationship between protein and kidney problems. A lot of people then started recommending limiting your protein. That report was later debunked and pretty much every piece of research on the topic since then has not seen any detrimental effects of eating a high protein diet on your kidneys. Eat away!