Protein is one of the most important macronutrients. It plays a crucial role in a range of biological functions, from building your tissues like skin and muscle, to supporting healthy hormonal functions. It’s crucial that you get enough, but how much do you really need per day? We’ve gone ahead and broken it down a little, to give you a basic understanding of how you should be approaching your diet.
Basic protein requirements
One of the first things to note is that protein requirements change depending on the kind of lifestyle you lead. Some studies recommend the following approaches, depending on how active you are.
Sedentary individuals
For the average, relatively sedentary adult, the guideline is around 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day. For an 80 kg person, that works out at about 64 grams per day. In most cases, this won’t be too difficult to achieve at all, especially when spread out across 3 meals and snacks in between.
Active individuals
As soon as you get a bit more active, that recommendation starts to increase. If you’re moderately active, then the recommended daily amount increases to around 1.2 - 1.7 grams per kilogram of body weight each day. For an 80kg person, that works out to between 96 - 136 grams of protein each day.
Of course, this will change depending on the type and amount of activity you’re involved in. However, if you feel like you’re not recovering properly between workouts, then there’s a good chance that more protein could help you feel healthier.
Athletes
If you’re exercising regularly and putting your body under significant strain, then getting enough protein becomes even more critical. Most studies recommend between 1.8 - 2.2 grams per kilogram of body weight, meaning that an 80kg athlete should be getting 144 - 176 grams of protein while actively training.
For athletes, the impact of insufficient protein intake becomes even more significant. In particular, they face a higher risk of injuring themselves, due to the fact that their body isn’t able to repair itself between workouts.
The quality of protein
Something that can have an impact on how much protein you need is the quality of the source. In many cases, protein is judged based on its bioavailability. Essentially, this refers to how easy it is for your body to digest and use it as a building block to make more tissue.
In general, protein from animal sources, such as eggs, milk or fish from sources like John West, is the most bioavailable. On the other hand, protein from sources like legumes and nuts can be considerably more difficult for our bodies to digest, rendering them less bioavailable.
Your diet should be something that you constantly come back to, to make sure that it’s serving you as well as it should be. You are what you eat, quite literally, and it’s crucial that you put the right nutrients into your body based on your needs and circumstances.
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