Momentum Issue 47: Eat Adequate Protein
Importance
Protein is crucial for everybody.
While a lot of the literature focuses on protein for athletes, every person needs to ensure they are consuming adequate protein, no matter their activity levels.
Protein is the building block of our bodies — our muscles, molecules, enzymes, hemoglobin, bones, hair, and even nucleic acids such as our DNA are built from protein.
Protein is also really helpful for satiety - meaning you’ll feel more full and will subsequently eat less, which will help with weight loss efforts. There are studies indicating that adequate protein intake can therefore help fight obesity.
However, protein intake is a confusing aspect of nutrition. I have seen so many different recommendations and conflicting studies about how much protein we should consume, how much we can absorb at one time, and how frequently we should consume it.
See the next section for more clarification on protein intake levels.
Implementation
Here’s where protein recommendations get more specific. Athletes will tend to need more than non-athletes, and strength athletes tend to need more than endurance athletes. This is a highly individual topic, but in general, most populations can benefit from consuming more protein than they currently are.
So, I will outline recommendations for athletes and non-athletes (with an athlete simply being someone who exercises regularly) so you can gauge how much you can be consuming.
Feel free to reply to this email if you have any questions about how much you specifically should be consuming.
You can also use this research-backed tool to calculate your own protein needs:
Non-Athletes
Aim for 1.2-1.5 grams per kg of bodyweight. So for a 75kg person, this would be 90-112g per day.
There is also some good evidence that older adults may need more protein than younger adults to help prevent age-related muscle loss. So if you are over 65, aiming for the higher end of this range could prove beneficial.
Athletes
“An overall daily protein intake in the range of 1.4–2.0 g protein/kg body weight/day (g/kg/d) is sufficient for most exercising individuals.” - International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN)
Strength and power athletes would benefit from aiming for the higher end of this range, as protein intake is crucial for muscle growth.
For those looking to optimize muscle growth or anyone on a weight loss protocol, up to 2.5g/kg body weight may be more ideal.
Please check with your doctor if you have any concerns about how much protein you should be consuming.
If you are looking to optimize your protein intake for muscle growth, here is a free link to an article where I do a deeper dive into this topic.
How Much Protein Do We Need to Maximize Muscle Growth?
If you’d like to learn more about protein timing, males vs females, amino acids, plant vs animal protein, and more specific protein recommendations for different people, subscribe to tomorrow’s deep dive newsletter.
Announcement
I am in the early stages of creating Momentum’s next project, which will be the Momentum Membership.
This membership will support you in creating positive change in your life through the implementation of healthy habits. It will build on everything we’ve learned here, but will take you much deeper and will be much more actionable.
There will be multiple pathways you can choose (you will have access to all of them) which will each take you on a 30-day journey to improving that aspect of your health.
For example, one pathway will be sleep. Each day you will have specific action steps to follow, as well as homework and readings throughout. You will be provided with worksheets, reflections, book summaries, as well as book and podcast recommendations to support you on your journey.
The launch will coincide with the New Year to support everyone making New Year’s resolutions to improve their health in 2022.
If this is something you would be interested in, please let me know by replying “yes” to this email, and I will keep you in the loop about any progress. Current Momentum readers will be given a discount.