Protein tips

In

,

By

Yassine Damil

Episode 4

TL;DR
  • Average protein consumption in the US is 1.42 g/kg body weight/day, above the National Academy of Medicine recommendation of 0.8 g/kg/d.
  • There is no consensus on the Tolerable Upper Intake Level for proteins, but some recommendations suggest not exceeding 3 to 4 times the minimum intake for healthy people.
  • A regimen containing 20% proteins offers several advantages, including better appetite control, slightly increased metabolism and lean muscle tissue gain.
  • To optimize protein intake, it is advisable to distribute it more evenly throughout the day.
  • Diversifying protein sources provides a full range of essential amino acids.

Today’s topic will be quite copious: we’re going to talk about our protein requirement. Why start with this nutrient? Well, what if I told you that the term protein is from the Greek1 prôtos, “first”. Let’s look at the problem from a specific angle: do you think we (by which I mean in a developed society) eat too much or too little protein?

Minimum and maximum protein requirement

Just a quick reminder that proteins are macronutrients (nutrients needed in significant amounts, like fats and carbohydrates) that play several essential roles, for example:

  • structural, by participating in tissue renewal, and
  • functional, by catalyzing reactions in the form of enzymes (e.g. digestive), ensuring cell signaling in the form of hormones, or defending against harmful bacteria and viruses in the form of antibodies…

According to the 2015-2018 NHANES, the average protein intake in the United States2 is 1.42 g/kg body weight/day. However, according to the National Academy of Medicine, the protein requirement3 for an adult is 0.8 g/kg/day. So that’s it, the subject’s closed and I can go off air? Of course not!

When some people say that we eat “too much” protein, what they’re really saying is that we eat more than the minimum recommended amount of protein. But there seems to be no consensus on the Tolerable Upper Intake Level. Some recommend ‘common sense’ not to exceed – for healthy people – 3 or even 4 times the minimum dose. According to a 2020 study4, people already at high risk of kidney disease should avoid a high-protein diet, and check their intake with their GP…

As an aside, to find out where you stand in terms of protein intake, I recommend using a tracking app like libra · diet5. Not only does it give you the amount of proteins in your day, it compares it to your specific requirements…

Beyond the minimum, a high-protein diet

In fact, there’s a real benefit in consuming more protein than is strictly necessary. Take, for example, a dietary regimen that gets 20% of its calories from proteins (instead of the minimum 10%). It has several advantages, including better appetite control, a slightly increased metabolism and a gain in muscle tissue (especially for those who do muscle strengthening).

As you’re probably already consuming more (and not too much), before increasing your protein intake further, I’d advise you to optimize it a little. In fact, we can achieve more benefits by distributing proteins more evenly throughout the day. Americans, for example, consume 4 times more proteins at dinner than at breakfast. Balancing protein intake between meals could maximize its benefits without increasing the amount you eat. In addition, you could systematically incorporate proteins into your snacks…

This little info may be of particular interest to mid-life women. It comes from 2 Australian researchers, Stephen Simpson and David Raubenheimer, who are working on what they call the “protein leverage hypothesis”6. They prove that increasing the percentage of calories from proteins during menopause could help mitigate the weight gain, particularly around the belly, that often accompanies this transition. Even a modest increase from 15% to 18% in protein calories could have an impact.

Keep in mind, however, that if you increase calories from proteins, you need to decrease calories from other foods to avoid weight gain. Fortunately, calories from proteins tend to keep us full longer than the same number of calories from other nutrients.

Proteins yes, meat not necessarily…

It’s also important to remember not to confuse proteins with meat. I think many people who argue that we eat too much proteins are less concerned about the amount of proteins than the amount of meat we eat.

It’s quite possible that the amount of meat we currently consume is not environmentally sustainable. Some7 point out that the land, water and other resources we currently use to raise meat could feed many more people if we used them to produce other types of food (excluding tree nuts).

What’s more, we tend to consume proteins in an unhealthy way, for example in the form of processed meat (e.g. cured) that contain nitrates or carcinogens. Avoiding these foods may make your diet healthier, but it has nothing to do with their protein content.

Anyone who doesn’t love beef tartare can rest assured: it’s perfectly possible to increase your protein intake without increasing your meat consumption. Eggs – in all their forms (especially soft-boiled) – are almost a staple food. And those who know will tell you that I swear by Skyr8 in dairy. Maybe I’ve also become a bit Americanized, because I love peanut butter as a snack. And as an apéritif, you could try hummus. Finally, the example you won’t find anywhere is the velouté (cream) of split peas and broadbeans for breakfast, a Moroccan recipe called Bissara.

Better still, by doing so, you diversify your protein sources and ensure maximum coverage of essential amino acids…

Finally, we simply eat too much of everything, including proteins. Reducing portions could help reduce overweight and obesity. But it’s not about reducing proteins per se. It’s about reducing calories. In fact, if you want to reduce your calorie intake, I suggest you cut calories from sugars first before you start reducing your protein intake.

Remember, you’re probably getting enough proteins, and you could distribute them more evenly throughout the day, or make better use of them through strength training. I’ll soon be focusing on protein density, protein powders and bars or simply the various sources of proteins…

Here’s a personal hack: increase your protein intake by eating more… whole grains. Let me explain: they contain at least 25% more protein than refined grains! Ideally, you should opt for organic sources, as they have kept their outer shells, where most of the pesticides are deposited…

Fun Fact

Scientists have concluded that the chicken appeared before the egg. In fact, the protein that makes up eggshells can only be produced by hens.

Going further

References

  1. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/protein ↩︎
  2. https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400530/pdf/usual/Usual_Intake_gender_WWEIA_2015_2018.pdf ↩︎
  3. Institute of Medicine. Protein and Amino Acids. In: Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US); 2005:589-768. doi: 10.17226/10490. ↩︎
  4. Ko GJ, Rhee CM, Kalantar-Zadeh K, Joshi S. The Effects of High-Protein Diets on Kidney Health and Longevity. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2020;31(8):1667-1679. doi: 10.1681/ASN.2020010028. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32669325/ ↩︎
  5. https://www.libra.diet/en ↩︎
  6. Simpson SJ, Raubenheimer D. Obesity: the protein leverage hypothesis. Obes Rev. 2005;6(2):133-142. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-789X.2005.00178.x. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15836464/ ↩︎
  7. Gallo I, Landro N, La Grassa R, Turconi A. Food Recommendations for Reducing Water Footprint. Sustainability. 2022;14(7):3833. doi: 10.3390/su14073833. ↩︎
  8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyr ↩︎