Protein Mistakes You’re Probably Making (Reach Your Goals)

Protein mistakes you’re probably making (this is why you’re not reaching your goals)

Protein is a powerful macronutrient that can help us reach our goals. If we want to lose weight, it aids us in reducing our food intake by improving satiety or feelings of satisfaction from a meal. It also helps to ensure the weight we lose is fat and not muscle.

If our goal is to build muscle, protein provides the amino acids we need for new growth.

There’s a limit to how much benefit we can get from protein and how much depends on our goal.

The recommended daily intake for protein is .36 grams per pound of bodyweight or .8 grams per kilogram. This might be okay for a younger sedentary man, but this number doesn’t allow for goals like building muscle or losing weight.

Nor does it recognize that as people get older, they lose protein sensitivity and require more protein to accomplish the same tasks as when they were younger.

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So mistake number one is not having the right amount of protein to reach your goal.

Our protein needs are different depending on whether we’re focusing on losing weight or building muscle.

They did a study looking at athletes, with the oldest being 40 and the youngest 18. They split them into 2 groups and put them in a 40% calorie deficit which is high, especially for athletes who are typically already lean.

One group had 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight, and the other had 2.3 grams per kilogram or just over 1 gram per pound. This worked out to 35% of their calories. Athletes, are often around 6 to 13% body fat. After 2 weeks, they found the low protein group had lost twice the muscle the high protein group did.

Leading the researchers to recommend a protein intake of 1 gram per pound or 35% of your daily calories for weight loss.

If we’re as lean as the typical athlete, we’re probably not trying to lose weight.

Still, having 30 to 35% of your daily calories being protein for weight loss is a good rule of thumb—leavings plenty of room for the other macronutrients we need.

What if we’re lean enough and want to build muscle. Do we need more or less protein?

They did a meta-analysis on 49 different studies that included 1863 participants determining that a protein intake greater than 1.6 grams per kilogram which converts to .73 grams per pound of body weight, didn’t build any more muscle.

We need less protein when we’re building muscle than when we lose fat. This is because protein isn’t the preferred energy source for the body. It will use carbohydrates first, sparing our muscle mass and freeing up the protein we've eaten to be applied to new growth.

If you’re overweight, you may be somewhat insulin resistant and not using carbs properly. Once you're lean, the body starts to function more efficiently, and carbohydrates become an essential part of your nutrition plan. Of course, I’m talking about whole food carb sources and not processed junk.

You shouldn’t be in a calorie surplus to build muscle unless you’re already lean. Then you can use .73 grams of protein per pound of body weight as a guide.

This works out to approximately 25% of our daily calories. As an over 50 man, I keep mine at 30% to help offset any anabolic resistance I might’ve developed.

This brings up the next mistake people make. They only track protein intake. All the macronutrients play a role in not only good health but muscle growth. Carbs help reduce cortisol, a hormone that can cause muscle breakdown.

Fats are important for good hormone function.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318368028_A_systematic_review_meta-analysis_and_meta-regression_of_the_effect_of_protein_supplementation_on_resistance_training-induced_gains_in_muscle_mass_and_strength_in_healthy_adults

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/38114571_Increased_Protein_Intake_Reduces_Lean_Body_Mass_Loss_during_Weight_Loss_in_Athletes