We all know that we should eat a lot of protein. But why?
We always hear the trainers in the industry say, “You need to eat more protein! Increase your protein intake!” But why? And how much? Do I really need that much? I feel like I’m eating enough already!
Well to start off, most people don’t consume nearly as much as they think. In fact, the average person doesn’t even track their daily food/calorie intake – much less down to the macro. But I’m getting ahead of myself. What is protein and what does it do anyway?
Well, simply put:
Protein is a simple carbon chain with an amine group on one end and a carboxyl group on the other.
That’s all fancy shmancy talk for my fellow biochem nerds, but all in all – it’s an important macronutrient in the body whose primary role comes in the form of muscle synthesis/ recovery when speaking from a nutritional standpoint. Consuming a recommended amount in the diet can help build and repair muscle paired with proper training and sleep (this is important, as the 3 work together!)
But that leads to the next point:
How much should I eat?
Well, this largely depends on fitness goals and is affected by various other factors of health/lifestyle.
In general, most studies recommend a minimum of 0.8g/lb for maintenance and as much as 2.2 g/lb- though there is significant evidence that there are diminished returns after 1.2 g/lb.
The most important part of all this is finding a consistent, trackable protein amount that you can consume within a day. If your goal is muscle gain or you are a high-level athlete- then I would steer toward the upper end of this spectrum. In the beginning, this may be a challenge- trust me. You’ll likely need to consume more than you think and definitely train harder than in the past to see significant results. But that’s why we train right?
Train hard – and stay on the mats!
