Advice: Daily protein requirements
Posted by infinitum3d@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 25 comments
How much protein do you need?
https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/are-you-getting-too-much-protein
Protein should account for 10% to 35% of your calories. So, if your daily needs are 2,000 calories, that's 200-700 calories from protein or 50-175 grams.
If you're an average adult.
The recommended dietary allowance to prevent deficiency for an average sedentary adult is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. For example, a person who weighs 165 pounds, or 75 kilograms, should consume 60 grams of protein per day.
If you're over age 40-50.
Once you're between the ages of 40 and 50, sarcopenia — losing muscle mass as you age — begins to set in. To prevent this and to maintain independence and quality of life, your protein needs increase to about 1-1.2 grams per kilogram or 75-90 grams per day for a 165-pound person.
If you exercise regularly.
People who exercise regularly also have higher needs, about 1.1-1.5 grams per kilogram. People who regularly lift weights or are training for a running or cycling event need 1.2-1.7 grams per kilogram. Excessive protein intake would be more than 2 grams per kilogram of body weight each day.
funnysasquatch@reddit
These are requirements you worry about when food is plentiful and you're not facing a disaster.
But there's a reason why the number one item sold by Walmart during a hurricane warning are Strawberry PopTarts. They're affordable. You can carry a lot of them in a small space. You can eat them hot or cold. And your kids won't complain.
There's nothing magic about the Strawberry flavor - besides being the most popular flavor.
You stock up on flour and rice because they last a long time and they will keep you fed. You add in beans and some cheap vegetable oil to add in some protein and to assist getting fat soluble vitamins.
Hopefully you never have to get to this point.
Eredani@reddit
So is this a dietary question on how much protein is needed?
Or a prepper question on how to meet that need during an emergency?
Regarding the second question I have two words for you: beans and rice.
If you don't like that answer then the two words are canned chicken.
gourmetjellybeans@reddit
Adding to this, it's a great idea to introduce rice and beans into your regular diet too. This way you won't end up with difficulty digesting them by immediately switching your diet. The average westerner gets much too little fibre in their diet, so waking up one day and eating only rice and beans would be a horrible shock to the system!
infinitum3d@reddit (OP)
Not really a question. More of a thought project.
People often ask how much protein they need to survive, and the answer is unfortunately always specific to that individual. We all need different amounts.
I’m hoping the post will help people determine what is right for them.
For me, I’m over 50, active, and weigh about 12 stone (165 pounds).
75 grams of protein a day should be my goal.
A 4 oz. can of tuna is 22g, a 5 oz. can of chicken is 18g, and a 19oz can of Progresso Mediterranean style lentil soup is 24g. That’s 64g protein. Add in a cup of quinoa for another 8g and I’m pretty close. Various veggies mixed in rounds out the day.
So I agree with you. Canned meat, beans and rice, and other mix-ins for flavor/variety/supplementation.
Good luck!
Sharp_Ad_9431@reddit
For prepping purposes. I use my lowest healthy BMI weight. Those numbers assume a healthy fat to muscle ratio. Most Americans don't have a healthy ratio. Even skinny Americans carry too much body fat.
Assuming I burn through all my American padding and get down to essential me. I will have enough protein.
Get a nutritionist assistance if you're an athlete that has below normal (humans normal not American) body fat percentage.
Joemirag78@reddit
Sorry, this may be a dumb question but I want to know... for someone hate tracking food with apps, do you have a rough way to guess if you're getting enough protein? TIA.
infinitum3d@reddit (OP)
You just have to memorize how much protein is in the things you normally eat.
A 4 ounce chicken breast has 35 grams
2 tablespoons of peanut butter is 8 grams
An egg is 6 grams
A cup of milk is 8 grams
A cup of yogurt is 17 grams
Those are my common proteins.
If you hate apps, there’s always good old paper and pencil. A pocket sized notebook works well.
Good luck!
Perfect_Management43@reddit
People talking here as if calories are calories which is true to some degree but only to some degree. The conversion pathway from protein to fat is not efficient and is only a minor pathway (like remember the winter rabbit story?)
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1103993 This article showed that calories are what determines fat storage, but protein percentage changes the lean body mass and the basal energy expenditure, so getting your extra calories from protein vs fat does make a big difference
fenuxjde@reddit
As someone who's been lifting for decades, I've definitely seen people think they need way more protein than they do. Even in his hay day, Arnold said he only ever tried to get one gram per lean pound of body weight. That's the absolute highest I shoot for. About 180g.
Nowadays, thanks to protein powder companies, I have people telling me they need two grams per absolute pound of bodyweight which is just insane. For a 180lb lifter, that's 360g protein.
Historical_Course587@reddit
Arnold is not a good source for the topic. He hit 250 in the late 1960s and would compete between 225-245 - he was maintaing muscle for almost his entire BB career, not building large amounts of it. Not to mention the roids.
That said you aren't wrong, most people who aren't racing to get bigger as fast as possible do not need a ton of protein. I like 1.2g-1.7g per Kg of bodyweight, for a 200lb person that's 110g-150g of protein. At that point, there are far more important dietary tweaks that can take place that will have more positive effects than more protein would.
probably_not_a_bot23@reddit
Couldn't be more true.
I once hit a muscle growth wall and asked a Serbian bodybuilder at my local for advice.
He told me to reduce my protein by half down to 80g and eat only vegetarian for 3 weeks with a raw onion once per day. By the 5th week my torso muscles nearly doubled and I had no more muscle exhaustion when lifting. Also found i would wake naturally after 6-7hours sleep with no tiredness throughout the day.
I still can't comprehend how it happened, when I asked him he just replied "too much of anything will make you sick, I'm glad you recovered"
Sleddoggamer@reddit
Think ya needed folate. I had the same experience as my prime was ending and I hit a wall, but my solution was to take a 3-month break and come back fat and rested
It's interesting you didn't just pee out the onion, though. All my mini-walls before had to he solved with different types of rice/beans and swapping my beef/chicken to things like trout and moose, and most of the rest was in mushrooms and fruit
Sleddoggamer@reddit
Same. During my absolute prime, I was only taking in about 80 grams a day on normal days, then 120 on the freak days where I'll be doing both mat days and weight days on the same day
My absolute top weight was 240 and I spent most months floating more around 180lbs. I don't even know how people digest one gram of protein for every pound of weight unless you're fighting starvation, and I don't know why any heavyweight would try for two
Immortal-one@reddit
One of my buddies does the same thing. He swears he needs 2 grams per pound because he saw someone on YouTube say that. He doesn’t even work out.
kbytzer@reddit
What do you expect from companies that sell protein powder? They just want people to consume their products faster for more sales.
BlueSwordM@reddit
Even 1g per pound of body weight is absurd.
The only recommendation I follow at max is 1.5-1.6g/kg of target bodyweight if you're doing muscle training, which would be 120-130g of protein at say, a target weight of 80kg.
buddy843@reddit
What is funny is we know for everything else that the body gets over what it needs, it either converts, stores as fat or expels it.
Too much sugar it gets stored as fat if the body can’t use that moment in time. Too much of a vitamin it expels it. To much carbs it converts to energy then fat. So why do people think excess protein is the exception even though we know excess protein is converted to (really expensive) energy?
Your body can only use what it needs. If you are ripped with a lot of muscles and work out often your needs are higher. If you don’t work out (no repair needed) your needs are low. So basically you need to workout often and build up the muscles before the needs reach high levels.
Always made me laugh that it is the only athlete that we start out day one saying you need to eat like someone at the top level in the field (1g per pound). If you want to take up any other activity it is about practicing the activity. If you want to be like Michael Phelps you should spend tons of hours in the pool way before you start eating 5-7,000 calories a day.
BallsOutKrunked@reddit
Same. I'm knocking on 50, still squatting 315. ohp 135.
I eat a can of sardines, slam a protein shake, and try to just eat right overall. I think a lot of nutrients and fiber get left out when you super focus on protein to such crazy levels.
Most of the internet guys talking about protein are on gear anyway.
infinitum3d@reddit (OP)
Protein:
Soy is a complete protein legume (bean)
Quinoa is a complete protein grain
Pistachio is a complete protein nut
Otherwise you need to combine a legume and a grain. It doesn’t have to be at the same meal, but same day is recommended.
Beans (legumes) and rice (grain)
Peas (legumes) and corn (grain)
Lentils (legumes) and pasta (grain)
Good luck!
infinitum3d@reddit (OP)
Also, just a reminder;
Just because something is a complete protein, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to get enough.
A cup of quinoa has 8 grams of protein.
To get a full day’s worth of protein eating only quinoa you need over a half gallon of quinoa every stinking day.
That’s really not attainable with any consistency.
Eazy12345678@reddit
there is a million studies showing that no one knows how much you really need
new studies show you need much less. at the end of the day you wont be bodybuilding in crisis you just need calories. the amount of protein doesnt really matter.
BelleMakaiHawaii@reddit
Beans, rice, hemp hearts, nutritional yeast, powdered milk, freeze dried eggs, just ask any vegetarian how they get enough protein and think “long term preservation”
SunLillyFairy@reddit
The thing is that our bodies are amazingly good at using both carbs and proteins and this topic has been debated, by even the best "experts," for many years. There are some plant based eating folks that will direct you towards legit studies that too much protein is harmful (to kidneys and such) and that low protein/high carb is the healthier way to go. Flip that and you've got keto and Atkins fans directing you to legit studies showing that higher fat and protein diets are better for you - stating they increase your focus and energy and make you live longer. The only thing they seem to agree on is at processed carbs and refined sugar are bad, and fiber is good.
I personally think that the human body was made to adapt and for those without specific health issues, either would be OK. But once age, health and individual traits factor in, some do better on less or more protein overall. As far as prepping, knowing what you/your family need and storing in the right ratios seems like a good plan to me.
ballskindrapes@reddit
While not technically complete, vital wheat gluten cna likely be stored just like flour, and is basically all protein. It'd be a great add on, because if you save say 3 or 4 hundred, you can do a bulk buy of some 50lb bags and get enough for most of a year, if not all of a year, and it should last quite a while.
infinitum3d@reddit (OP)
Nice. And since wheat gluten is virtually fat free it won’t go rancid.