Protein Requirements
Protein Requirements
Aug 25th, 2009 | By Coach Nancy | Category: Nutrition & Weight Loss
How much protein does any of us really need? The USDA dietary guidelines typically peg this between 50 and 70 grams per day (this equates to approximately .4 grams per pound of body weight). But is this enough? It’s a subject many like to debate. To understand fully why, we should quickly look at why or how the body uses protein or more specifically the amino acids that make up protein:
- Protein is used in cell repair.
- Protein is used in muscle and bone maintenance
- Protein is used to repair and grow muscle mass
- Protein is used in many metabolism functions
Athletes and those of us doing P90X are building muscle mass and requiring protein to repair the damage we incur from the exercise. As we go through the program we establish a higher level of lean muscle mass that we need to maintain. How much more protein is needed is a subject of great debate but many health officials agree that the athlete (those of us who are doing P90X should consider ourselves athletes) have double the protein requirement. So for any of us on the program, to determine your ideal protein intake, take your body weight (in pounds) x .8 grams of protein.
If you’ve been on a low calorie diet, the odds are you are not consuming enough protein. The reason for this is that many animal proteins have a good measure of fat in them which, at more than double the calories per gram than either protein or carbs, makes it something most diets keep low. And animal fats, as a general rule, are not good for us as the fats tend to be saturated fats. So while you diet it will be hard to get all your protein from animal sources and still stay in your dietary guidelines.
That’s why I’m such a big proponent of a high quality whey protein powder as part of your diet. I will be discussing whey protein in a separate article but for now just know that adding a protein isolate into your diet will provide high quality, quickly absorbed protein with little carbohydrate or fats.
My Vote for Best Value (I buy Vanilla):
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Body Fortress Whey Protein Powder, Vanilla, 32 Ounces (Pack of 2) |
My vote for Great Taste in a Protein Drink (Chocolate is my fav):
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Muscle Milk-High Protein Shake Mix |
