Are you eating enough protein ?

Protein requirements and why you’re probably not getting enough

“60g of protein per day for the average woman is more than enough.”

This was the answer given by someone on a recent radio show interview when asked about protein recommendations and it inspired me to write this article because a one size fits all recommendation like that is so far removed from the right way to understand how much protein you need, how I coach nutrition and what I see in practice.

A brief primer first, we all need protein for cell repair and growth, production of hormones and enzymes and it is the building blocks of bones, muscles, skin and cartilage. It forms one of the three main macronutrients (fat and carbs being the other two) and the specific amounts you need depends on your gender, weight, height and activity level.

General recommendations around nutrition that are fine to shout about are – eat a variety of foods, eat the rainbow, make sure you’re getting enough antioxidants from plenty of fruit and veg, ensure you’re consuming enough healthy fats from saturated and monounsaturated sources etc.  Those are good recommendations to make but to make recommendations to people about their calorie requirements generally and the breakdown of those into protein, carbohydrates and fats requires some personal information and a calorie calculator.

Let me give you an example that will clearly show how far off that 60g mentioned at the start is. If we take an average woman at 5ft 4in and let’s put her weight at 65kg (just over 10stone in old money). If this woman exercises three times per week and is 35yrs old then daily calorie needs work out to be 1,800cals per day to maintain her current weight at those activity levels.

When you punch this number into a macronutrient calculator with a sensible breakdown of nutrients into 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat this works out to be –

180g carbs per day

135g protein

60g fat

That’s well over double the recommendation given by the expert on the radio show. The only way 60g protein per day for any woman would apply would be if the lady in question was consuming less than 1,200cals per day (this extremely low level of food intake would only apply to an adult who was very small, very light and very inactive) and the carb intake was above 50% daily and the protein under 25% daily. In practice, we could never see this as a positive recommendation for many reasons.

Firstly, protein makes you fuller for longer so it helps with keeping off cravings so you don’t keep looking for those carb and low-quality fat filled snacks.  It supports retention of more lean mass when you are trying to lose weight and consuming adequate amounts of protein can aid in cell repair and regeneration.

To conclude, Your protein needs depend on your age, sex, size and activity levels.  If you have been exercising regularly for some time and eating healthily at the right amount for you then it’s likely that you already know what works for your body and don’t need to be tracking and measuring the foods you eat yet can stay healthy and in good shape. The most common issue I tend to see with clients when they first come to me is that they haven’t been eating enough protein for their needs.

If you want to work out your own needs, I recommend the following links:-

www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

www.macronutrientcalcuator.com

A caveat to this is that the past few years has seen an increase in many companies throwing low quality protein sources into everything and anything and then making the claim that it’s “High in protein”. Look to get the majority of your protein intake from real foods, such as, meat, eggs, dairy, fish, beans, lentils etc and refrain from consuming too many high protein bars and treats that tend to be low quality and high calorie. If you need an easy way to up your protein then just throw a scoop of protein powder into a shaker and mix it up with your liquid of choice – I use a good quality whey protein supplement - Kinetica whey protein - link here which is easily digested and bumps my intake up a bit.

Any questions or comments just get in touch.