While fats and carbohydrates are the big, bad villains in the diet world (depending on what diet guru you happen to come across), protein is quietly preening and strutting around the room, secure in his status as the popular kid. Protein is soooo popular that you can even incorporate it into your diet via powder.
Mmm…Powder. Yum, right?
So many flavors of….powder.
I read many health and fitness blogs. That’s lots of fun recipes to read and share, great lifestyle advice, lots of ‘What I Ate’ posts. I also share my recipes, and what I’ve been eating, and give advice. But I see so many posts and recipes involving protein powder, or protein supplements floating around the healthy blogosphere, and you’ll NEVER see protein powders here. Why? I’m about to tell you.
Let’s take a look at basic protein requirements to start. I am not a nutritionist, so I’m going to turn to some well-respected nutrition and health sources for the info. The CDC tells me that as an adult female, I require 46 grams of protein per day. When I use the USDA’s ‘Choose My Plate’ Daily Food Plan, it tells me I require 6 ounces of protein a day. Depending on what I choose to eat as a protein source, I calculate this is between 40 and 60 grams. The Institute of Medicine recommends 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. At 143 pounds, I’m basically 65 kgs (I rounded up slightly), making my recommended intake 52 grams per day.
So let’s say I require 50 grams of protein per day, since that seems to be the median of these sources.
Now, let’s take a look at what I ate yesterday:
Based on my activity level, I should be eating about 2,200 calories, so I’m pretty happy I’m so close to that (since this is first time I’ve actually tracked calories in a long time!), and oh, what’s that? I ate 103 grams of protein? (and drank: the beer had 2 grams of protein – score!). So I went above and beyond my protein requirements by double. And nary a protein powder in sight.
So, what happens to protein consumed in excess of need in the human body? Well, unlike carbohydrates, which can be stored as glycogen in your muscles for energy, protein cannot be stored in the human body as protein. So, guess what it gets stored as? That’s right – excess protein is stored as fat.
My food diary from yesterday may be higher in protein than usual, since I had Japanese take-out and ate salmon and shrimp, both great protein sources. Usually I cook dinner at home, which involves a lot of vegetarian or meat-as-a-side dishes. But even if you discount all of the protein grams from my dinner, the daily total would still be 72 grams of protein. This is still above and beyond what is necessary for my body. If I was eating in excess of my caloric needs for the day, that excess protein would just become stored fat.
I challenge you to track what you eat in terms of calories and protein grams for a couple of days. See if you are eating your daily requirement – then ask yourself if you really need to supplement your diet with a protein powder or shake?
What do you think about protein supplements? Am I missing something here?
Any nutritionists or RD’s want to weigh in on this?
I don’t do supplements of any sort – I know that I eat plenty of protein without needing a supplement. Good to know that I wasn’t off in my thinking.
Honestly I figure if you have a varied, healthy diet, you’re going to get your macronutrient needs met. Glad you’re doing it the old fashioned way – you know, by eating food!! 😉
I am NOT a fan of this protein powder hype. Not at all. As a nutrition student, I’ve learned SO much in regards to the macronutrients we need. Two things I’ve learned:
1. Protein is NOT a primary energy source. We have all of these protein bars out there with 25+ grams of protein in them claiming to bring energy, and they don’t. What they DO provide is tons of sugar, gobs of saturated fat, and a mile-long list of tongue-twisting ingredients.
2. The body only needs a specific amount of protein, and anything that the body doesn’t use gets converted to FAT. So, here we are, being told that protein helps people lose weight. WRONG. Protein that isn’t used gets stored in our bodies as fat. Fat is the ONLY thing that has unlimited storage space in the body. Over-consumption of protein = weight gain. (Over-consumption of anything = weight gain. lol)
As far as I am aware, the AMDR guidelines (Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges) suggest that we need 10-35% of our diets to consist of protein. If you’re sedentary, your diet shouldn’t consist of 35% protein. If you’re a body-builder, yes. Runners are usually on the lower to middle range, as they need far more carbohydrates than protein. (If you’re cross training with weight training, then middle would be great – roughly 20%.) So, with a 2,200-calorie diet, at 20% protein, you could consume 770 calories, or 192.5 grams, of protein. At 10%, 55 grams. You’re perfectly in between! 😀
Ladies and gentleman, a grad student in nutrition!:) Thanks for weighing in, Melissa! When I went to school to be a personal trainer, I remember my teacher telling us if you buy protein powder, you may as well just take it and spoon it into the toilet, or put it on your scale & weigh it, because unless you’re hugely deficient in protein it’s either going to end up flushed away, or stored in your body as fat.
If you are training heavily (and I mean 12-20 hours a week) then protein helps rebuild torn-down muscles. I get most of my protein from eggs, chicken, salmon and tuna. I do use a whey powder in my smoothies just because it tastes good (vanilla flavor). I am not overweight or carry excess fat. If I am flushing it, well so be it. I estimate my body fat to be less than ten percent and I am almost 60 so it works for me. Talk to me when you are my age and training for Ironman races-
You’re right, Cheryl, protein helps rebuild torn muscles no matter how many hours you’re training. I honestly just think it’s best to get your protein from real food sources (like you do). I’m not anti protein (that would make me a fool!!) I am just anti consuming protein in huge amounts from non-food sources because one is under the mistaken impression that if some protein is good, an excess must be better.
Thank you for posting this. I got a huge container of protein powder from a friend that has been sitting on my counter for weeks and weeks. I usually workout multiple hours a week and lift heavy weights. I get tired of hearing that some people think they are healthy by basically living on protein powder and they try to push it on me! I know that protein is important, but so are carbs and fats! We all need to find the balance that is perfect for us from REAL food! 🙂
Yup, exactly! I am all for getting your macronutrients, vitamins and minerals from real food whenever possible!