Decoding Protein: How Much You Need and Finding Complete Options for Plant-Based Diets
Apr 24, 2024
Rob Maxwell
Ever wrestled with the question of how much protein really fuels your fitness fire? I'm Rob Maxwell, here to cut through the noise and serve up the science-backed scoop on protein's role in your diet. We kick things off by tackling the Recommended Dietary Allowance's (RDA) protein puzzle, unraveling why that 10 to 35 percent range might have your head spinning. From couch dwellers to marathon runners, I map out the exact grams needed to nourish your body and shatter some protein myths that have been leading us astray.
Switching gears, we venture into the plant kingdom where complete proteins abound—if you know where to look. For our vegan and vegetarian friends, I've got your back, revealing how to craft a complete amino acid profile with power couples like peanut butter and whole wheat bread, or the timeless beans and rice. Struggling with fatigue or fitness plateaus? Discover how tracking tools like MyFitnessPal can be your ally in achieving your plant-powered dietary dreams. Tune in and transform the way you think about protein, whether you're sprouting your first plant-based meal or fine-tuning a well-established green routine.
Ever wrestled with the question of how much protein really fuels your fitness fire? I'm Rob Maxwell, here to cut through the noise and serve up the science-backed scoop on protein's role in your diet. We kick things off by tackling the Recommended Dietary Allowance's (RDA) protein puzzle, unraveling why that 10 to 35 percent range might have your head spinning. From couch dwellers to marathon runners, I map out the exact grams needed to nourish your body and shatter some protein myths that have been leading us astray.
Switching gears, we venture into the plant kingdom where complete proteins abound—if you know where to look. For our vegan and vegetarian friends, I've got your back, revealing how to craft a complete amino acid profile with power couples like peanut butter and whole wheat bread, or the timeless beans and rice. Struggling with fatigue or fitness plateaus? Discover how tracking tools like MyFitnessPal can be your ally in achieving your plant-powered dietary dreams. Tune in and transform the way you think about protein, whether you're sprouting your first plant-based meal or fine-tuning a well-established green routine.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to. There is a Method to the Madness. My name is Rob Maxwell, I'm an exercise physiologist and personal trainer. I'm the owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs and I've been in business since 1994. The purpose of this podcast is to give you the science so you know what you should do and, most importantly, why you should do it.
Speaker 1:
Today I'm going to talk about the protein requirements, all of the confusion around that, and I'm going to try to really clear that up for you. Before I get into that, let me thank our wonderful sponsors, jonathan and Lynn Gilden of the Gilden Group at Realty Pros. Look, they're simply committed to providing the highest level of customer service in home selling. And guess what? They have the reviews and the sales to back that up. So give them a shout at 386-451-2412. So if you've been confused about protein requirements, welcome to the club. I think almost everybody is, and it's funny when I share this information from you for you, with you from the RDA and other nutritional resources. They're even confused. But I'm going to give you what we most know from most of the reputable organizations on this. So don't worry, you won't end this podcast confused on that. So if you look at the RDA, they're kind of funny.
Speaker 1:
They say one way you can determine your protein needs is to go with 10 to 35 percent of your diet in protein. So that's problematic for many for two different reasons. Number one think about that range 10 to 35 percent. Now that's pretty huge. They do like to keep it very vague like that because then people can't blame them for certain things. But essentially what they allude to is that if you are in need of more protein whether it be you are training for something, you have a higher level of activity, you're an endurance athlete and, believe it or not, they need as much, if not more, protein than strength athletes a lot of the time. Maybe you're recovering from illness or something like that you could need more protein too. So they would want you to kind of venture towards the upper end of that and if you're not as active or have less need closer to the 10%.
Speaker 1:
That's one of the problems, that it's a huge gap and that leaves people kind of confused. Actually I lied, there's three problems with it. The second problem is then they go out and state that it should be between 10 and 20 percent of your caloric allowance. So you know, on one end they have this big range 10 to 35 percent and then they narrow it down to 10 to 20 percent. So that absolutely leaves people confused, and rightfully so. I can tell you that's closer to what I've told people through the years, not because I think people need to be super low on protein I think they need a moderate amount but because 35% of your diet and protein is super, super high. So that's the only reason on that.
Speaker 1:
And the third problem with using this as a macronutrient distribution percentage which is what that is is that's kind of hard to calculate. It's kind of like tedious to calculate, which means that you would have to figure out what your caloric needs are and then you would multiply that out by 35% and come up with how many calories you need and then divide that by four to come up with a number to get how many grams you need. So that's a little tedious for a lot of people. So let's scratch that. Let's not even use that macronutrient distribution for those three reasons. Let's go right to what we should use Now.
Speaker 1:
The RDA recommended daily allowance for people protein needs is just 0.8 per kilogram of body weight. That's for a sedentary individual. Now. That is not a lot of protein. Okay, so 0.8 per kilogram of body weight is definitely not a lot of protein. But I would add that if you really are sedentary, not doing a lot, you're not recovering from things. You also don't need a lot of protein. So that's just kind of a modest amount for sure. And I will also say, depending on where you live in the world, you might be already getting enough protein. So, in other words, if you're a typical American, you're getting enough protein. So, in other words, if you're a typical American, you're getting enough protein. And that sounds great on paper, but not really, because you're getting the high protein amounts from high fatty foods amounts, because we in America eat a lot of fatty foods which are high in protein and fat, of course. So protein may not be your problem, but maybe it is so for you out there who are physically active going to the gym, working out, trying to stay healthy, you need between 1.4 and 1.8 per kilogram of body weight of protein, all right.
Speaker 1:
So just in case you don't feel like backing this up and listening to it again, I will say it again so you can write it down 1.4 to 1.8 per kilogram of body weight to make sure that you are getting adequate protein numbers. So what you do, in case you don't know, is take your weight in pounds and divide that by 2.2. That will put you in two kilograms. Take that, multiply it by 1.4 and 1.8. That's not nearly as wide of a gap as the macronutrient distribution, so that's not bad and that will give you a nice range. Now what you'll notice is that's not two times your body weight, because a lot of times people just say well, or I should say, not two times your kilogram of body weight.
Speaker 1:
So a lot of times people will say eat a gram of protein per pound of body weight. That is not always true. That might put you a little bit high. Now, a 1.8 gets you close to that, but it's not quite at it. So some of the protein requirements that you're going to hear out there are way too high and I would argue that the 2.0 per kilogram of body weight is too high because it really shouldn't be double or that close to double of your weight.
Speaker 1:
And that's what, like the science says, you know you might get, you know, irvine influencer out there telling you you need to have like 400 grams of protein a day, and yes, I've seen some outlandish numbers like that and that's just ridiculous. I mean a lot of athletes do need to get their protein. Just ridiculous. I mean a lot of athletes do need to get their protein up. But that's because a lot of athletes eat very, very carefully. They don't eat a lot of fat, they're eating lean foods, they're eating lean carbohydrates. Their protein sources oftentimes are plant-based and not high fatty food-based. So they may not be getting enough protein. But for to go to that kind of level of, say like ridiculous amount of 400 grams a day, that's going to put an extreme amount of stress on your kidneys. You will store the bulk of it as fat and it's just very, very unnecessary. All right, so 1.8. Now let me just add to this.
Speaker 1:
There's a big debate over quality proteins. Don't pay too much attention to that. All right, so your most complete protein is going to have nine of the essential amino acids. Those are the amino acids that your body can't produce and needs to be consumed from the outside. That's what essential means. Essential doesn't mean needed, because we need amino acids, we need food, we need protein. No, of course it's not that. Essential means your body can't produce it. You have to take it from an outside source so for your protein to be complete, it has to have the nine essential amino acids. All dairy, most meat, some plant-based proteins such as quinoa, some pea proteins and soy have the complete nine essential amino acids.
Speaker 1:
But for my vegan and plant-based friends out there, no fret, because you can combine your proteins to get your essential amino acids. For example, peanut butter and wheat bread gives you the combination you need to make that protein complete. So if you don't want to eat a chicken breast, if you don't want to eat a piece of fish, if you don't want to eat cottage cheese, if you don't want to eat greek yogurt, whatever, because you are plant-based, then you simply can spread some peanut butter on whole wheat toast or bread and you're going to have your complete protein. Then you simply add it up and see how many grams you got in. The other famous combination is beans and rice. Beans and rice any kind of beans, red beans, black beans, pinto beans and rice combined together are going to give you your nine essential amino acids, which is going to make that a complete protein. All right.
Speaker 1:
My final suggestion is, if you're worried about this, if you feel like you're not getting enough protein, like you're not recovering fast enough, you don't seem to be making the gains at the gym that you want to make. Whatever you feel tired, you might be deficient you need to track it to find out. The only way we know is if we add it up, and nowadays you can use your MyFitnessPal or other such devices and simply have it added up for you. All right, hope that helps. It was a good question and I hope that was a good answer. And speaking of a good answer, there is no better company in town for garage doors than Overhead Door Company of Daytona Beach. I personally vouch for Jeff and Zach Hawk, who are the owners. If you need any assistance, check them out at overheaddoordaytonacom.