Proteins are the building blocks of your cells. They are found everywhere in your body, and in an average person can constitute up to 15% of your bodyweight. The enzymes in your body : Protein.
The hemoglobin that transports oxygen in your blood : protein. The actin and myosin filament responsible for muscle contraction: protein. It’s basically essential for most systems in your body.
You Probably Eat Enough Protein But Is It Optimal?
As you can see proteins are completely essential for your body to function and not eating enough of it could lead to health problems.
Luckily the minimal amount you need to function is pretty low at around 0.8g per kg of bodyweight. That means the minimal amount for somebody weighing 70kg (155 pounds) would be only 55g of protein per day.
It would actually be challenging for someone living in Canada to eat less than that. Proteins are found in all whole foods and to get less than 55g of protein you’d probably have to live on a diet of candies and Diet Coke. So, if you’re eating at least 3 normal meals a day don’t worry you’re fine.
Why You Should (probably) Eat More Protein
There’s one catch here, minimal amount doesn’t mean optimal amount. Is there benefits to eating more than 0.8g/kg? Of course there is.
You see protein is the main building block of your muscle, if you want your body to be in a state where it can recover and grow from your training, you’re going to need to eat more than the minimal amount… and quite a bit more. There’s no harm in eating more protein. If your body doesn’t need it to build new cells, it will simply digest it and use as energy.
So why would you risk not getting the full results of your training by eating a lesser amount? I personally recommend my clients eat 1,6 to 2,2g of protein/kg. Eating more than that is totally fine but probably isn’t necessary unless you’re a professional bodybuilder.
Protein can Help You
Proteins have another benefit, they’re relatively satiating and not very high in terms of calories. One gram of protein has 4 calories, a gram of fat has 9. It means they will make you feel fuller and for longer than the same amount of calories in fat.
100g of chicken breasts has as much calories as 20g of butter. The simple fact of eating more high lean protein food sources is sometimes enough to help you lose weight, simply because it would be almost impossible to eat the amount of food you would need to be in calorie surplus. You’d have to eat 500g of chicken breast to get the same amount of calories there is in a Big Mac meal.
the Best Protein Sources
Proteins are therefore the best friend of anyone that is trying to improve its body composition or that wants to improve their performance in the gym. They help you recover, are essential for building muscle and will help you eat less calories without even trying.
The best sources of protein are lean cuts of meat, fish, eggs, lean dairy products but also vegetarian sources like tofu or legumes . As you can see those foods come mostly from animals or animal products, it is therefore harder to eat a lot of protein when vegan. Protein shakes (wether Vegan or not) could potentially be an interesting option to add to your diet if you struggle with your protein intake.
It would be sad to see the results of your hard workouts be hindered by the fact that you didn’t eat enough proteins, so eat your proteins and get moving!
