Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Protein Myth

How much protein do we really need , many supplement companies will try to convince you that you need 1gram of protein per lb of body weight or more which is close to 2.0-2.5g / kg of BW.  The average diet already exceeds upper limit of known protein requirements.  The adult RDA for protein is about .8g/kg of BW however for athletes who participate in high intensity endurance activities  the RDA can be raised to 1.2-1.4g/ kg of BW this is still lower than what supplement companies suggest that you consume.

To convert you BW in lbs divide by 2.2 to get your BW in Kilograms.  In our example a 200lb i.e 91kg male consuming 200g of protein falls in the 1 gram/ lb of BW or 2-2.5 g/kg of BW. His RDA is 72 g of protein assuming the .8 g/ kg , if he is an athlete 135g of protein , how much protein he gets from average American diet about 150-200g.

Bottom Line the average protein intake exceeds  1.5g/kg of BW per day , more than enough to cover the higher protein requirements.  The excess protein consumption just becomes wasteful , and can be stored as fat if glycogen stores are already topped off.

2 comments:

  1. This is very informative, tell us more how you got into this whole thing and what brought you to post it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well I was motivated by the muscle magz depicting impressive physiques and was looking for a magic bullet that will help me get there. I believed all the hype and spent close to a grand in supplements mostly protein shake tubs etc.. I felt the public needs to be informed and that there is no need to spend so much money on protein shakes with a proper diet.

    ReplyDelete