This is Harvard Health Publishing, they say I need about 0.8 grams of protein everyday, now, that means I would have to consume about 70 grams of protein everyday (minimum) to stay healthy, now, I live in India and don’t consume that much, but I consider myself pretty healthy.
So, what’s the amount one should realistically be aiming towards? If I were to take 70 grams of protein everyday, what measurable changes can I expect in my life🤔?
If your recommend protein intake is 70 grams per day (meaning you weigh about 195 pounds / 87 kg) and you’re only getting 20 grams per day, then you are likely already experiencing health issues.
From https://www.verywellhealth.com/protein-deficiency-symptoms-8756264 you could expect to experience:
- Weakness and fatigue, meaning you’ll feel exhausted - mentally, physically, or both
- Skin, Hair, and Nail Problems
- Mood changes, including the development of mood disorders, such as depression
- Compromised immune system
- Slowed wound healing
- Decline in bone strength
- Fatty liver
- Weight loss due to your muscles and organs being broken down - but my understanding is this is mostly relevant if your overall caloric intake is quite low (starvation levels)
- Weight gain due to fluid retention or increased hunger
Not all of those are immediately noticeable.
However, I’m with the other commenter who said that they think it’s likely that you’re under-estimating your daily protein intake. What method did you use for tracking and calculating it?
I have a very monotonous food that I am fed, so, I just calculated how much protein I am getting from it and it turned out to be no more than 20 grams average per day. Boy, I need to add more proteins to my diet, can protein powders be digested by the body well or should I look for natural sources of protein?
Powders can be good, but they can also be garbage. It depends on the brand. But with whole foods like legumes or animal meats, you can be sure you’re getting quality protein.
Also, thanks for the detailed answer!
Do you eat enough in general (eg 3 meals a day, you don’t feel hungry most of the time)? It’s not hard to meet the basic nutritional goals by just eating what you want when you want. Protein is in everything so it’d be quite hard to be significantly deficient if you’re not starving.
I eat a protein low diet, 400 grams of rice and maybe 200 grams of what and some dal (which is protein rich but I eat very less quantity of it). One egg, and this is the best case scenario and I don’t think that will get me more than half of what they say I need to be healthy.
Too much protein can fuck up your sleeping schedule. Especially if it’s lean protein with little fat. Happened to me when I was eating too many chili cheese smoked sausages all the time because I was lazy. They’re delicious though.
I don’t mean to pry but sausage in general, especially seemingly chili cheese sausage, has an incredible amount of fat (that is not to say the fat is bad, subtypes and fatty acid chain length are important to note), wouldn’t this be counter to your point? Unless the chili cheese smoked sausages are some Franken-Sausage (lol) that is super lean.
If u wanna build muscle eat at least 1g per pound of body weight (or 2.2 per kg).
Make sure ur getting enough carbs and fat too though, they’re equally important.
if you eat the recommended amount of protein (and a little extra as a buffer) then you would not notice any particularly striking change, but statistically your quality of life will improve for myriad subtle reasons. Hormone production will be more stable, you will be less likely to get diseases associated with protein deficiency, you will build muscle slightly more easily, your brain will technically function slightly better in subtle metabolic ways, as with all your other organs. etc. You will likely, not notice any of it. But across your life it will statistically make a difference in your health outcomes. this is true of all phytonutrients, not just protein.
The recommended amount contains a buffer. No need to add your own buffer as well
based on the screenshot, it does not seem to include a buffer, and is unlikely to imo because that requires taking a stance on the size of that buffer.
Is “grams per pound” really the way you say it?
Like, if you know the concept of gram, why do you need a pound?
In the US, we weigh ourselves in pounds. But nutritional information about food is in grams.
Imo, the fact that the numerator and denominator units are incompatible isn’t a big deal since the message “eat .08% percent of your body weight in protein each day” is not the intuitive way to think about how much to eat. It’s much easier to use a unit in the numerator that is common measuring nutrition and a unit in the denominator that is common for measuring body weight.
My question is essentially as to why you use two systems at once
If you know what gram is, you can imagine a kilogram as well: the conversion is easy, measurements are consistent with each other and the entire world, and it makes it very clear both units are tied together and represent mass.
Best AskLemmy question I’ve seen in years
Hehe… Thank you!
This is a good question but you’re going to get a wild range of information because of a number of factors.
That number is a good starting point but it’s likely low especially if you’re physically active or using a vegan/vegetarian source.
Also, something one must keep in mind is that the vast majority of research in the field is built on the fundamental assumption carbs should be the largest part of the diet which is likely wrong as the body seems to run better the less sugar you give it.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE8LmUoWei5Qp5Nz7C4FMNs6hGNx7M3Jg
A lot less than Americans think. Going from memory it’s about 6-8% of calories.
The rule of thumb I remember using is the portion size of a pack of cards, now also remember that you can get proteins from other sources as well Some are complete proteins & some you need other ingredients to complete.
People dont always calculate their total protein intake correctly, because things like wheat (12% protein) and rice and potatoes (3%) have protein although thought of as carbs. Studies say 50g of protein per day is ok, but some people say more is better, particularly if trying to build muscle mass etc