The Importance of Protein

Everything in the grocery store is pushing the protein craze.  You can find chips, desserts, ice creams, coffee, bars, powders, crackers, and more infused with protein.  And to me this is way better than the low carb craze and low fat phase we went through.  We do need protein... in particular as we age we need more of it because our bodies become less efficient at using it to build muscle, so in some sense we need to overload our body with it.  

A general guideline for protein intake is about 1 gram per pound of ideal body weight, or roughly 1.6 grams to 2.2 grams per kilogram. Take your weight in pounds and divide it by 2.2, this is your weight in kg. Then take that number and multiply it time 1.6 - 2.2. If you are a regular at the gym and do all the strength training we do, it would be highly recommended that you lean more toward the 2.2 to change your body composition.

How should they be distributed throughout the day? The simple answer is EVENLY. Three meals with about 25% of the total grams you are shooting for at each + another 25% divided between a couple of snacks throughout the day. On days that you strength train or any day you are moving some weight really, it is HIGHLY recommended that you get 25-40g of protein in within 30-40 minutes post training for women, and within 2 hours for men. The difference in these times has to do with the hormonal differences in the sexes.

The best kinds of protein are the ones that come from real food. Minimally processed, former living things... plants or animals (😔), or their byproducts. In an ideal situation we would keep our protein bars, shakes, and protein infused snacks to a minimum. This is really hard to do if you are a person who is always on the go. However, it will save your liver the trouble of having to filter all the processed food ingredients which come with that bar or shake.

Here are some examples of some protein sources. If you have high cholesterol some of these choices are better than others.

Our bodies were designed to process real food easily and we need to understand that protein bars, shakes, protein chips all the time are not great replacements for real food.  Are they better than not eating? Yes. But again, as with most things, we want to shoot for better than minimum.  

With that said, if you have access to my food journal, you will notice that this is a very, very big area of opportunity for me.   I am sharing what could/should be… not what I am necessarily living.  

If you are interested in the nitty gritty science, comment below and I will do another blog to explain it all.