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19. Variables That Determine How Much Protein You Need
28 Plays2 months ago
Protein intake isn't one size fits all.
Following a generic number you found online, or copying what someone else eats, isn't going to get you where you want to go.
It's also not an arbitrary number that your coach came up with - there are variables that determine how much protein you need to eat, and I cover those variables in this episode to help you understand how your age, weight, height, gender, activity level, type of training, and your goals affect what your intake should be.
Because the right amount of protein for a 45-year-old woman in a strength training program looks very different than it does for a 28-year-old doing mostly cardio. And a blanket RDA was never going to capture that.
If you've been guessing at your protein intake or following a generic recommendation, this episode will help you understand what actually goes into finding the right number for you.
Topics covered:
→ The old RDA guidelines for protein intake compared to the updated guidelines
→ How age, weight, height and gender factor into your protein needs
→ Why your training type and activity level shift the equation
→ How your specific goals change your protein targets
→ What to do with this information to start eating with more intention
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome back.
Introduction to Protein Importance
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of the Basics of Balance. Hello, my friends. My name is Ariella. We are going to be talking today about a common question that I get when I'm working with a newer nutrition client. um And I think this is something that a lot of people have questions or concerns about, and it is about how much protein you should be eating.
00:00:23
Speaker
really coming from a place of how we as you know nutrition professionals or fitness professionals, how we arrive at the number in which we tell our clients to work towards. okay So how protein gets measured, how it gets calculated, because the thing is, everything about us could be the same, but we would still have different protein requirements because we're our protein intake is very personal to us, right? To who we are, what we're working towards. A lot of those different variables affect how much protein you should be eating in a day, right? And a lot of times I think when I'm working with a newer client and I tell them how much protein I want them to start working towards, It sounds like a lot because arguably they don't really have any understanding of how much protein they are eating. And so they hear a higher number than what they were expecting. And they just like, it sounds like a lot. And so it must be a lot, right?
Updated Protein Guidelines
00:01:17
Speaker
Additionally,
00:01:18
Speaker
ah We have just received new dietary guidelines um over, you know, how much protein we should be eating or working towards. And so these have just, you know, been updated. However, not a lot of people know that because it's so recent. And also, number two, going based off of the old guidelines, the that are much too low for reasons that we'll get into. So when they hear a higher number based on old information, but also the information that they have that says it should be much lower, right, than I'm giving them, then that's how we obviously come up with these pre- uh, conceived notions that like what I'm telling you to eat is too high. Right. And if you can tell, I'm a big fan of understanding why something is important. Okay. The more reasons that we understand why something is important, we're giving ourselves more ah reasons as to keep trying to prioritize things that might be difficult, but Hey, if A, B, and C are in a big enough reason, okay, we're going to lean on reason D to keep trying. You see what I'm saying? We're not putting all of our eggs in our basket. Um,
00:02:26
Speaker
We are spreading the wealth, if you will. We are spreading the love. So first of all, let's get into the old recommended daily ah targets for protein intake were eight ah grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. All right. And so when we kind of convert that into pounds, that's 0.36 grams per gram of body weight in that, or I'm sorry, per pound of body weight. there All of these numbers. And here's the thing. That is to prevent deficiency in terms of keeping you alive. That is literally if you were laying in a bed and you were not moving um to genuinely just like sustain human life. And I don't know about you, but I am not laying in bed um all day, every day. and if you have children, you're definitely not laying in bed every day. You're running after them. You're getting groceries. You're picking up car seats. You're, you know, you're doing more than just the lowest amount, if you will. Okay.
00:03:30
Speaker
And we also need to keep in mind our protein intake is directly associated with not only creating a strong body in terms of strengthening our bones, uh, making our muscles, ah you know,
00:03:45
Speaker
get stronger, but it's also for cellular turnover.
Factors Influencing Protein Needs
00:03:49
Speaker
So nothing necessarily even to do with the skeletal system or our muscular system. We're talking overall health, right? Protein is the number one resource that is being used when we are sick, when we are injured. So that is something, you know, sickness, something as trivial as the common cold, or maybe something like, hey, your body is fighting cancer. It's fighting a serious disease. yeah injury could be something like, hey, I tweaked my knee or, hey, I fell down, I fractured a hip and i I am trying to heal from this injury. See what I'm saying? So protein is massively important for a lot of different reasons. Doesn't matter we're talking about, you know, structural components or cellular components or physical goal components, right? And so the new
00:04:31
Speaker
ah guidelines are away from 0.8, we have increased, okay? We now have a range. So the new guidelines are 1.2 to grams per kilogram of body weight, all right? So it's a little higher, right?
00:04:49
Speaker
Arguably, that top number is double of what the old guidelines were, okay? And again, a lot of that reason for that increase is because people are going based off those minimal guidelines And they are okay with minimal, and that's not promoting optimal health. That's not taking into consideration the fact that we lose muscle as we age, right? And so past 30 years old, we actually need to actively be chasing more muscle because we're losing it as we age. So if we're trying to build more muscle, we're at least slowing that down, right? Because muscle is obviously metabolic goals. If you can't tell by listening to any of my episodes um or, you know, reading the news actually at this point in time, which I love. I love that things are kind of like turning a new leaf in the health and the fitness world. um But anyways, um you know, it's it's not...
00:05:38
Speaker
When we are increasing that daily requirement or those guidelines, it's taking into consideration health from a whole person approach, right? You're not just laying in bed. You have a life and you should be working out, right? Working out should be something that should be happening regardless if you have any physical goals. It is to promote optimal um you know, health as we age, right? We don't want to get into a situation where we're in our later years looking back and we're breaking down um because we did not protect our muscle, because we did not strengthen our bones, because we did not eat enough protein, right? And so we're learning this information um to protect us in the future, right? Almost like our insurance policy. Yeah. Okay, so a few different variables as far as how protein gets calculated. Your protein ah requirements per day are largely going to be yes, you know with those guidelines in mind, however, context matters, right? Which is kind of the whole entire reason as to why there are so many variables and factors as to how your protein targets get calculated, we might fall on the outside of that ah recommended daily um target based on what you're working towards, right? What we have to work with, if you will. So a few different factors. um Number one, we have age, we have gender, we have weight, we have height, we have your goals, um we have your activity level and your type of activity. So all of those factors um from a big bird's eye view, we're gonna try to cover um just to kind of give you just again, some general information, okay? If you are an exception to the rule, you're an exception to the rule.
00:07:17
Speaker
But generally speaking, and age is gonna be the number one variable because as I mentioned earlier, um we need more protein as we age when we are fighting back against that muscle, or I'm sorry, that age-related muscle loss, right? Sarcopenia. as I mentioned earlier. um Also, as we age, um you know, things are breaking down for lack of a better analogy. And so we need to make sure that we are giving our body enough of the fundamental building blocks of what it needs for that cellular turnover to continue to improve our health, to fight against illnesses that might not pop up because you're eating enough protein because you're healthy, right? To protect against injuries, right? That might not happen because you're strong. because you prioritize your protein intake. So your age is going to be a huge huge factor in what we use to calculate how much protein you need. Somebody who is younger probably doesn't need as much protein as somebody who is maybe a little bit older, right?
00:08:19
Speaker
Um, next is going to be your, your weight and your height. Um, a 200 pound person, just as an example, who is six feet tall is going to need significantly more protein than somebody who is a hundred pounds and five foot tall, right? Like your, your weight and your height are partially what's going to dictate how much protein you need to eat. Now, your weight might also be something like your goal weight, right? So your goal weight is taken into account as well. um And so, you know, if you weigh 300 pounds and we're trying to get you down to, um you know, 150 pounds, well, we're not going to ask you to necessarily eat 300 grams of protein, right? Just for round number purposes. We might ask you to eat closer to your goal weight, right? which would be closer to 150 grams, right? Just as ah as a round example.
00:09:10
Speaker
Your gender. So typically speaking, male is going to have a lower body fat percentage, just genetically speaking. And that also means they're usually going to have a a higher skeletal muscle mass percentage. um A lot of factors come into play with that, right? Like hormone levels, like they have greater testosterone, so they're going to have an easier time building muscle. um you know Muscle is very ah metabolically active, and so it's you know keeping that metabolism super high. You're not holding onto body fat as much, things like that, right?
00:09:43
Speaker
And females are usually going to be the opposite of that. okay Usually we have less muscle mass and we also have a little bit more body fat. um We typically have breasts. We have more body fat around our glutes, around our midsection, our thighs, things like that. right um And usually speaking, we are going to have a little bit harder of a time building muscle because opposite of what I just said about males, they have higher testosterone, we have a different you know hormonal breakdown, right? And so your gender is gonna come
Protein Needs in Specific Diets
00:10:16
Speaker
into play. Now, your goals, okay? As an example, your goals are gonna be a massive contributor um as to how much protein you need to eat. Somebody who is in a deficit, who is chasing fat loss, weight loss, who is dieting in a cut, whatever term you want to use, um they are probably going to need a little bit more protein as somebody who is just trying to maintain their weight, somebody who is maybe trying to build muscle. And that might be surprising to hear. And the reason is when we are dieting, we are intentionally not eating enough calories in an effort to
00:10:52
Speaker
lose weight to lose fat because that's how we lose weight and fat is by being in a caloric deficit. Well, when we're in a deficit, one of the, uh, uh, areas of a body that's at great greatest jeopardy is our muscle.
00:11:05
Speaker
Your muscle needs enough calories and it needs enough protein to just simply preserve, right? To fight against that age-related muscle loss, right? We need to make sure we're eating enough of those two things. However, when you're in a deficit, you're not eating enough calories. We know that. We're intentionally doing that, okay? And so a way that we kind of want to fight back and to preserve that muscle so that your body doesn't, um you know, kind of lose that muscle a little bit faster than we want it to in a deficit, keep your metabolism high, promote optimal health, things like that, is making sure we're eating enough protein. Somebody who is maybe on the opposite side of the spectrum who is maybe in a bull. In a caloric surplus, you're trying to intentionally build muscle. You are not necessarily going to need as much protein, but we definitely want to make sure that, hey, we're eating enough carbs. We're eating enough of our energy source to help our body um recover from workouts that we are using to stimulate muscle, to build muscle, um you know to build back stronger and to grow and things like that. And so you're not leveraging protein as much as you are leveraging things like strength training and, you know, carbohydrate intake.
00:12:17
Speaker
calorie intake, you know, things like that, right? um Moving on to activity level, your activity level, somebody who is super active, an athlete, is probably going to need a lot more protein than somebody who is more sedentary, right? And so your activity level is ah another variable determining or that is determined to calculate your protein intake, okay? um As I mentioned earlier, protein is the number one resource that's being used when you're sick or Okay.
00:12:47
Speaker
injured okay and so when we think about activity we all typically think about injury except for the fact that that's basically what's happening when we are working out when we are living an active lifestyle for lack of just for sake of this conversation, think about activity as basically putting your body under stress and creating mini injuries, okay? When we're strength training, micro tears in your muscles. When we are, you know, doing plyometrics, like jumping a lot, we are creating tiny little, um you know, minuscule, but like stress fractures on your bones. And so basically that activity alone is actually making you weaker, okay? We get stronger from that activity by what we eat. And if we are not eating enough, well, hey, that's going put us at greater risk of not being able to recover from that activity. and increase our risk of injury, right? Compared to somebody who is eating appropriately for their activity level and they are eating enough protein to help their body recover, right?
00:13:50
Speaker
Promoting that cellular turnover, that number one resource that's being used when we are sick or injured, okay? It's helping recover from those mini tiny injuries, whether it's in your muscles, your connective tissue, you know, ah your bones, whatever the case is, right?
00:14:05
Speaker
Injuries. And so somebody who is actively, or I'm sorry, somebody who is, ah you know, working out, they're lifting four to five times a week, they're going to need more protein for that reason alone, you know? um And comparatively speaking, somebody who is not necessarily moving as much, well, they don't have as great of a risk of those kinds of injuries, you know i mean? And then the last variable that we're going to kind of talk about is the type of activity, All right, somebody who is ah very active, but who typically does more cardio, they are gonna have different protein requirements than somebody who is maybe the same level of activity. They work out the same amount of days, right? The same duration. So the same, like you know, someone working out an hour is maybe, um you know, running for an hour. That might be the same, but the type of activity might be different. A runner is gonna have different requirements than somebody who strength trains, okay?
00:15:02
Speaker
And so that is going to affect how much protein we need to eat. Somebody who is strength training is probably going to need a little bit more protein if they want to continue to get stronger, if they want to continue to make progress in their lifts, then somebody who is primarily focused on like an endurance sport, such as, you know, running, like I said, a marathon, they are typically going to have yes, protein requirements. However, we want to make sure that we are giving their body enough carbohydrates which is your body's primary energy source, which you're using a ton of when you're running, which is why sometimes you need to have something in the middle of your runs to keep those energy stores high. um And so, you know, your type of activity is going to matter. And so I think, again, this is more just for our general understanding where when you are working with somebody who is telling you how much protein you need to eat, it's not just an arbitrary
Adherence and Lifestyle Integration
00:15:55
Speaker
number, right? Like you tell us what you are working towards. You tell us, this is what I'm trying to do.
00:16:01
Speaker
And based on all of that information, we take that into consideration and we, you know, make some, you know, mathematical calculations. And we say, based on all of that, this is how much protein we need to eat. And it's not necessarily going to be the easiest thing if you know, trying to eat more protein is newer to us, right? However, the human body is a wonderful, unique work of art. And the more we do something, the better we get at it. And so it might be challenging initially, but each time we keep trying, each time we identify how to eat more protein by increasing seeing the portions of what we're already eating, right? Before we even have to add in more protein sources. What are you already eating? Eat more of that, right? And the more, you know, routine that feels, cool, let's build on that and let's, you know, start to add a new protein sources, right? The more understanding we have about why protein is so important, right? Like understanding the the cellular turnover, the number one resource, why it's being or that it's being used when we're sick or injured, fighting against age-related muscle loss and you know things like that. And also, when the more understanding we have as far as how it's calculated, like I said at the beginning, the more reasons we're giving ourselves to keep trying, because it's not easy initially. But if we can keep trying, eventually that's going to turn from being really challenging and, man, I have no idea how I'm going to hit this number to,
00:17:27
Speaker
getting texts like I get regularly from clients who first told me that and said, I went over my protein. Is that okay? Because it's going to happen. And I say that to every single client who tells me, wow, that's a lot of protein.
00:17:42
Speaker
It's hard now because it's new. Eventually, it's not going to be hard. And before you know it, you're going to hit your protein without even realizing it. You're going to go over without even realizing it. And protein is no longer this massive hurdle in your fitness journey. And it's just simply a part of who you are.
00:17:58
Speaker
And so I hope that that kind of gave a little bit of insight in terms of, you know, just some of the variables. Like I said, context always matters, right? But that is generally speaking what we are going to use to base how much protein you need to eat. If this was helpful for you, if you think this would be helpful for others, I would really appreciate if you could help me get the word out, help share the love, if you will, Um, and of course, if you have not, you know, subscribed, I would be so grateful for that as well. So let's, uh, let's keep this train moving along. Now you need to know a little bit more about why protein numbers are what they are. And until next time, friends have a wonderful rest of your day.