Protein

There is a lot of confusion regarding protein out there. You hear something different almost everywhere you go. Myths that consuming excess protein will result in more muscle mass have people downing protein shakes at every meal.  But why is protein important for the body? How much do you actually need and why?

Protein performs several essential functions for the body.  It’s responsible for building and repairing muscles and tissues; hair and nails are composed primarily of protein.  Protein also has a role in producing hormones and enzymes.  The function I will focus on in the blog is repairing muscles, primarily after exercise. 

Protein, with fats and carbohydrates, is a macronutrient.  All this means is that you need a relatively substantial amount of it compared to micronutrients like vitamins and minerals.  However, unlike the other macronutrients, your body does not store excess protein.  Any un-needed protein is converted.  The nitrogen is removed and eliminated through the urine and what’s left is stored as fat. Consuming excess protein will NOT build more muscle. Your muscles only need a certain amount of protein and anything left over after that will be stored as fat.  So now you see the myth about consuming excess protein in order to build more muscle is just that, a myth.

If your goal is to build muscle, exercise is the only way to do this. Those who want to build muscle are typically those who over-consume protein the most. A lot of times, this is where you'll see people with the protein powders and shakes.  Thinking they are helping their body produce muscle, they eat sometimes more than two times the daily recommended amount.  Why? There is a LOT of false information out there. Protein powders and shakes are everywhere, even grocery stores, and promise quick and easy results. The truth is, in order to get the results you want, the only way to do it is through exercise.

There are other dangers to consuming excess protein, more serious than an accumulation of fat in the body.  Proteins contain nitrogen and are broken down by the liver.  When this nitrogen breaks down, the byproduct is ammonia, which is poisonous.  Your liver can safely tolerate ammonia in the acceptable amounts, but when you eat excess protein, the liver as to deal with the excess ammonia and this is harmful to the cells of the body.  This excess ammonia has actually been shown to decrease athletic performance. (Further disproving the excess protein, excess muscle myth).  Eliminating all this nitrogen puts stress on the kidneys and in serious cases, has been known to cause kidney disease.  An increased amount of calcium is lost through the urine in this situation as well.  The body relies on calcium to build strong and healthy bones.  Overtime, this can contribute to osteoporosis. When people over-consume protein, they usually acquire it from animal sources.   This can add to health concerns/problems as most animal sources are high in saturated fats which increase the risk of heart disease.

So, you know why you don’t want to over-consume, but how much protein do you really need?  Your daily protein requirements are somewhat individual and depend on a few factors like your level of activity and your body weight.  Athletes do need slightly more protein than their sedentary counterparts to repair damaged muscles from training.  The muscle damage occurs in both endurance training and more anaerobic activities like heavy weight lifting.  Both types of athletes have similar protein requirements.

In general, people need anywhere between .8g and 1.8g of protein per kilogram of body weight.  Sedentary individuals need the lower end of the protein requirements.  The 1.8 g is for hardcore athletes.  Let’s say you’re 150 pounds and moderately active.  To calculate your daily protein needs, the first thing you have to do is convert your weight in pounds to kilograms. To do this you’d divide 150 by 2.2 and get 68 kilograms. Then you’ll multiply this by 1.0 and 1.2 (somewhere between sedentary and a hardcore athlete) and you get a range of 68-81 grams of protein per day.  The average person can usually just take their weight in kilograms and eat that in grams of protein per day.

If you eat regularly and a variety of foods throughout the day, chances are, you are already meeting your daily protein requirements.  Just be aware of the protein sources in your diet, and how much you are actually getting. Protein supplements like shakes may be (and most often times are) unnecessary.