How Much Protein Do You Really Need?

+ recipe for Quinoa and Vegetable Salad with Chickpeas and Feta

How Much Protein Do You Really Need?

A trip around the grocery store is all the evidence needed that we have gone protein crazy. The word is slapped on practically everything— protein potato chips, protein waffles, protein cookies, and protein snack bars galore.  Apparently, all that’s needed to give a food a health halo is a sprinkling of protein powder.

Then there is the guy in front of me in line at the café at my gym who ordered three chicken breasts for lunch. That’s it, just three grilled chicken breasts. And I will never forget the story my sister told me about when she was pregnant with her first child. She had finally collapsed into bed after a long, tiring day. But before she drifted off to sleep she reviewed her food diary and realized she had eaten only 85 g of protein that day, instead of the 100 g she had read somewhere that she needed. So, even though she was not the least bit hungry, she got out of bed, went downstairs and force-fed herself a cup of cottage cheese while standing half-awake in front of the refrigerator. (She stopped counting grams of protein with her second pregnancy.)

Protein is more than important, it’s essential. But from what I can tell we have tipped into unhealthy territory when we are eating piles of chicken for lunch, force-feeding ourselves cottage cheese before midnight, and thinking fried chips are good-for-you if they contain protein powder.

I thought I’d put things in perspective here so you can be confident you are getting enough of this essential nutrient without falling into any of these unhealthy traps.

Protein 101

Protein is critical to the health of every cell in our bodies. It is necessary to build and maintain muscle and other tissues, create red blood cells, and keep hair, skin, and fingernails healthy. It helps produce antibodies and keeps our immune systems running strong. Protein is very satiating, helping us stay fuller, longer after a meal, and it helps temper rises in blood sugar when eaten with carbohydrate-rich foods.

Protein is made up of chains of amino acids. There are 20 amino acids we need for survival, but our bodies can make 11 of them, so that means that we need to get the remaining 9 “essential amino acids” from the foods we eat.

If a food contains all 9 essential amino acids in ample amounts it is considered a complete protein. Meat, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, and soy foods such as tofu and edamame are complete proteins. Beans, nuts, seeds and grains are incomplete proteins on their own, but they are among the most healthful foods you can eat and they complement each other to provide all the essential amino acids. (They do not have to be eaten at the same meal to add up to a complete protein.)

How Much Protein Do You Really Need?

Our daily protein need depends on our activity level, weight, age, and other factors, such as if we are nursing or pregnant. The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein is .36 g per pound body weight (.8 g per kilogram), which equals 54 g of protein per day for a 150 pound person. But the RDA is the amount of protein needed to prevent deficiency. It is not necessarily the optimal amount.

Research shows that optimal protein intake ---the amount needed to maximize muscle growth with resistance training and minimize the muscle loss related to aging and that comes with weight loss--- is about double the RDA, at .54 g to .9 g of protein per pound body weight (1.2 to 2.0 g per kilogram). That translates to 81 to 135 g protein per day for a person weighing 150 pounds. Most Americans don’t have to try too hard to get that much---it is in the range of what we are already consuming.

Here is the protein contents of some foods, and an example of a typical day, so you can get an idea of how it can add up: