How much protein do you need? Well, that depends on who you ask.
Traditional sources of dietary information (webMD, for example) set protein requirements fairly low. After a quick search, I came up with numbers around 46 grams of protein per day for adult women. Requirements for men were only slightly higher. These numbers reflect the amount of protein a person needs just to survive. If you consume less protein than this, you could be putting your health at risk. But is this enough protein for you to THRIVE?
Again, that depends.
Protein is used by your body in a number of ways. It is absolutely crucial for anyone who is still growing. Children and teens should not restrict the amount of protein in the diet. And pregnant women need the most protein of all! The reason why people in first world countries are growing taller today is because we have ample protein in our diets. Protein is also necessary for building and repairing muscle cells. It won't matter how much you work out if you neglect to feed your body enough protein as there will be no source of nutrition to aid that muscle development.
However, if you are a sedentary adult who is not interested in physical fitness, strength, or muscle mass, then you probably need only the minimum amount of protein. You will also require a very low number of total calories to sustain your body weight and life style. Even if you are not particularly active, doctors recommend that your total percentage of calories from protein should be around 30%. This is consistent with the Zone diet.
But if you are interested in maintaining an active lifestyle, increasing your level of fitness, and building more muscle mass (which in turn will burn WAY more calories per day than fat) you may require a higher level of dietary protein. Additionally, if you are attempting to lose weight, eating enough protein is crucial for several reasons:
1) Eating enough protein with every meal and snack keeps your blood sugar levels even. This translates into longer periods of satiety and less cravings. According to the Zone, each meal should last at least 4 hours and up to 5 hours. A small snack should last at least 90 minutes and up to 2 hours. A diet heavy in carbs and light in protein will result in almost constant hunger. Believe me, I know this from experience!
2) Consuming an adequate amount of protein while losing weight insures that you will NOT lose muscle mass. This is absolutely vital! People who lose weight rapidly by severely restricting calories, including protein, almost always lose muscle along with fat. This results in a depressed metabolism as muscle is responsible for burning MANY more calories than fat. Muscle is 37.5 times more metabolically active than fat. If you lose muscle in order to lose weight, you set yourself up for regaining all those pounds plus more. In other words, disaster!
If you are interested in determining exactly how much protein your body requires, based on your measurements and your activity level, there is a bodyfat calculator on the Zone Diet website. (See www.drsears.com and click on Resources.) You fill out a simple online form and the program will do the calculations for you. (Great for those of us who seek to avoid mathematics at all costs!) The exact same calculator is available in several of the Zone books, including Mastering the Zone, however you will be forced to add and subtract those numbers yourself. The completed form will tell you exactly how many pounds of lean mass and bodyfat you currently carry. Your protein requirement is based on your lean mass. In order not to lose muscle, you need to feed your body the correct amount of protein daily. This is your protein prescription. The number of carbohydrate and fat grams you need daily is based on your protein prescription.
I highly recommend checking out the bodyfat calculator. As a basic guideline, women should be under 22-23% fat. Over that percentage indicates that you are carrying excess fat. You may be happily surprised or perhaps deeply shocked by what you discover. But I find it extremely helpful to know how much I should be eating. Even if you don't always hit those numbers perfectly in your day-to-day life, it is good to know what you actually need, vs. what you might feel like you need. Let me know if you find this resource helpful!
Traditional sources of dietary information (webMD, for example) set protein requirements fairly low. After a quick search, I came up with numbers around 46 grams of protein per day for adult women. Requirements for men were only slightly higher. These numbers reflect the amount of protein a person needs just to survive. If you consume less protein than this, you could be putting your health at risk. But is this enough protein for you to THRIVE?
Again, that depends.
Protein is used by your body in a number of ways. It is absolutely crucial for anyone who is still growing. Children and teens should not restrict the amount of protein in the diet. And pregnant women need the most protein of all! The reason why people in first world countries are growing taller today is because we have ample protein in our diets. Protein is also necessary for building and repairing muscle cells. It won't matter how much you work out if you neglect to feed your body enough protein as there will be no source of nutrition to aid that muscle development.
However, if you are a sedentary adult who is not interested in physical fitness, strength, or muscle mass, then you probably need only the minimum amount of protein. You will also require a very low number of total calories to sustain your body weight and life style. Even if you are not particularly active, doctors recommend that your total percentage of calories from protein should be around 30%. This is consistent with the Zone diet.
But if you are interested in maintaining an active lifestyle, increasing your level of fitness, and building more muscle mass (which in turn will burn WAY more calories per day than fat) you may require a higher level of dietary protein. Additionally, if you are attempting to lose weight, eating enough protein is crucial for several reasons:
1) Eating enough protein with every meal and snack keeps your blood sugar levels even. This translates into longer periods of satiety and less cravings. According to the Zone, each meal should last at least 4 hours and up to 5 hours. A small snack should last at least 90 minutes and up to 2 hours. A diet heavy in carbs and light in protein will result in almost constant hunger. Believe me, I know this from experience!
2) Consuming an adequate amount of protein while losing weight insures that you will NOT lose muscle mass. This is absolutely vital! People who lose weight rapidly by severely restricting calories, including protein, almost always lose muscle along with fat. This results in a depressed metabolism as muscle is responsible for burning MANY more calories than fat. Muscle is 37.5 times more metabolically active than fat. If you lose muscle in order to lose weight, you set yourself up for regaining all those pounds plus more. In other words, disaster!
If you are interested in determining exactly how much protein your body requires, based on your measurements and your activity level, there is a bodyfat calculator on the Zone Diet website. (See www.drsears.com and click on Resources.) You fill out a simple online form and the program will do the calculations for you. (Great for those of us who seek to avoid mathematics at all costs!) The exact same calculator is available in several of the Zone books, including Mastering the Zone, however you will be forced to add and subtract those numbers yourself. The completed form will tell you exactly how many pounds of lean mass and bodyfat you currently carry. Your protein requirement is based on your lean mass. In order not to lose muscle, you need to feed your body the correct amount of protein daily. This is your protein prescription. The number of carbohydrate and fat grams you need daily is based on your protein prescription.
I highly recommend checking out the bodyfat calculator. As a basic guideline, women should be under 22-23% fat. Over that percentage indicates that you are carrying excess fat. You may be happily surprised or perhaps deeply shocked by what you discover. But I find it extremely helpful to know how much I should be eating. Even if you don't always hit those numbers perfectly in your day-to-day life, it is good to know what you actually need, vs. what you might feel like you need. Let me know if you find this resource helpful!
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