# Best way to get your daily protein in



## tonytrong (Jul 23, 2015)

A quick search of the internet and you'll see an abundance of people recommending that when building muscle you should be aiming for 1  1.5 times your body weight in lbs.
Let's take the middle  1.25 and times that by my body weight (150lbs x 1.25) = 187.5lbs of protein per day.
I was wondering what are some good, effective foods to help reach that goal throughout the day?
For example, a tin of tuna = 27g of protein. So for examples sake, if I just sticking to tuna (which I'm not) I would need 7 tins a day which not only could I not afford, but probably couldn't manage to eat as well.
Any help on which foods / meals that are good to get your protein in will be appreciated.
Thanks.


----------



## lille (Jul 25, 2015)

That's pretty high. I usually see people recommend .8-1 gram per pound of body weight. I'm a fan of mixing cottage cheese in with eggs and scrambling them. If you eat meat, chicken is great. I also drink protein powder mixed with milk.


----------



## fatsmagic (Jul 26, 2015)

I used to lift heavy weights, but now lift medium and have slimmed down on bulk, but still eat a protein heavy diet.
Every week-day for my work pack-up, I have 1 tin tuna (not expensive if you buy multi-packs), 4 Chicken thighs (again, cheap if you buy pre-cooked packs of 5/6 pieces), and I balance that with a pitta bread wrap containing ham, lettuce, cucumber, low fat spread, also an apple, banana, and yoghurt.
For evening meals, I usually have a chicken/rice meal or sometimes beef, and I supplement that with two all-in-1 shakes which have about 40g protein in each (PHD Synergy iso-7).
Your body can only process so much protein per hour, so often if you stuff yourself with lots of it, most just goes to waste anyway (little & often is best).
Depends on your 'goals' and what you are trying to achieve


----------



## fuelingfire (Jul 27, 2015)

Their is a huge debate in the medical community about how much is actually needed. Most Americans actually eat to much protein. A single chicken breast is actually enough protein for the average thin person. Vegans seem to be able to eat less protein then what is recommended, and don't have health problems related to a lack of protein. The amount needed is mostly speculation, but it's a good idea to stay close to the recommended amount.


----------



## khrestel (Aug 3, 2015)

This is interesting in many ways because in here (Finland) the recommendation widely used is 1 g/kg, 1,5 g/kg if you're loosing weight and 1,8-2 g/kg if you're trying to build muscle which are all quite a bit less than discussed in this topic.

I like to get mine mainly from lean meat like chicken or ham, cottage cheese and quark. I also add quite a bit of all sorts of beans and lentils in salads, casseroles and some sauces as well. My favourites at the moment are red lentils, Beluga-lentils and kik peas.

0% quark is so fashionable at the moment that it makes me laugh. Some commercial diet programs contain 1,5-2 lbs of it daily. Before diet I used to mix it with whipped cream to soften the taste but one gets used to it without the cream.


----------



## seaturtle71 (Dec 29, 2016)

Protein is so overrated. I have been mostly vegan all my life. I eat very little protein and I mean very little. Like an egg or a piece of meat a few times a month. For today i had one of those frozen indian paneer spinach things. I added like 5 cups of spinach to it and a bunch of beet greens. Then I had a large beet and pineapple salad with some ginger. I did stop at wholefoods and help myself to several chocolate covered pretzels out of the bins and some additional free samples. The panner had 3 or four tiny chunks of cheese and that is not typical that I would have cheese of any kind. I am the only one in my family who eats this way. Meaning mostly veggies and fruits. I weigh 215 because of my love of avocados and sometimes almonds and walnuts and i occasional binge on sweets from trader joe's to the tune of 5000 or 6000 calories at ago. i know if I didn't go on these chocolate sugar binges I would weigh 150 or so. but I accepted my need to binge along time ago, I see it as a necessary form of self medication. Plus I prefer myself at this weight. 

Both my sisters have had cancer, one died at 32 and the other one year older was just diagnosed with breast cancer. She is a huge atkins steak person fr the past 15 years. it seems to me that as i hit my forties the people around me that eat a lot of protein/milk/meat are dropping like flies with all manner of ailments. 

I wouldn't worry about protein. Eat as many vegetables as you can every day and you will be healthy. Everything else is just bullshit.


----------



## loopytheone (Dec 29, 2016)

seaturtle71 said:


> Protein is so overrated. I have been mostly vegan all my life. I eat very little protein and I mean very little. Like an egg or a piece of meat a few times a month. For today i had one of those frozen indian paneer spinach things. I added like 5 cups of spinach to it and a bunch of beet greens. Then I had a large beet and pineapple salad with some ginger. I did stop at wholefoods and help myself to several chocolate covered pretzels out of the bins and some additional free samples. The panner had 3 or four tiny chunks of cheese and that is not typical that I would have cheese of any kind. I am the only one in my family who eats this way. Meaning mostly veggies and fruits. I weigh 215 because of my love of avocados and sometimes almonds and walnuts and i occasional binge on sweets from trader joe's to the tune of 5000 or 6000 calories at ago. i know if I didn't go on these chocolate sugar binges I would weigh 150 or so. but I accepted my need to binge along time ago, I see it as a necessary form of self medication. Plus I prefer myself at this weight.
> 
> Both my sisters have had cancer, one died at 32 and the other one year older was just diagnosed with breast cancer. She is a huge atkins steak person fr the past 15 years. it seems to me that as i hit my forties the people around me that eat a lot of protein/milk/meat are dropping like flies with all manner of ailments.
> 
> I wouldn't worry about protein. Eat as many vegetables as you can every day and you will be healthy. Everything else is just bullshit.



I think you are making an assumption here that protein = exclusively animal protein. You talk about eating nuts etc and you probably eat things like beans and grains and pulses too, right? Those are all full of protein, it doesn't need to be animal products to be protein. I've been a vegetarian since I was a little kid and always had plenty of protein in my diet from plants.


----------



## seaturtle71 (Dec 31, 2016)

No I really mean no protein. I don't like legumes that much but force myself to eat them a few times a month. I hate rice. Nuts are hit and miss with me. i eat them a few times a month. I eat for or five avocados a day. I love them. When I binge it is on chocolates, cheetos, milkduds, juicyfruits. nothing with any protein. I get a full medical every year and everything is stellar. I asked my doctor about protein and she stated it was overrated and can damage the kidneys.


----------



## fuelingfire (Jan 1, 2017)

seaturtle71 said:


> No I really mean no protein. I don't like legumes that much but force myself to eat them a few times a month. I hate rice. Nuts are hit and miss with me. i eat them a few times a month. I eat for or five avocados a day. I love them. When I binge it is on chocolates, cheetos, milkduds, juicyfruits. nothing with any protein. I get a full medical every year and everything is stellar. I asked my doctor about protein and she stated it was overrated and can damage the kidneys.



I have eaten a (mostly) plant based diet since 2010. I dont consider myself vegan, despite avoiding dairy and eggs. Nutrition research has been horribly corrupted, so we might never know the truth. I weightlift, so I make sure I eat a large amount of protein.

I am a big fan of the book, The China Study. One of the theories in the book, is that vegetable protein and animal protein my not require the same amounts to keep a person healthy. It is theorized that in a non-animal protein diet, humans may require less protein. I personally believe this is mostlikely true. Many long time vegans claim to eat far less protein than is recommended.

All plants have protein, but the human digestive system can only break down certain proteins. No animal can live without protein. There is something in your diet giving you protein, or your body will eat itself, followed by death.
Eat as many vegetables as you can every day and you will be healthy. I agree as long as you are getting variety. I do supplement Vit B12.


----------



## Kristal (Jan 1, 2017)

<take a guess> (which is the fluid containing <guess>) contains about 5 calories per <guess>, total. Assuming that all of those 5 calories derive from protein, you'd be looking at 1.25g of protein, *max*. (there are 4 cals per 1 g protein). In reality, some of those calories are coming from enzymes, sugars, etc. So you'd probably be getting a bit less than 1 g of protein.


----------



## quantumbits (Feb 23, 2017)

Cost money to bulk up. It really does. Got to eat a lot. And do the workouts. Not easy :/

My typical day consists of:
1) Bowl of oatmeal in morning - ~22g protein (~28g if I use flax seed or milk)
2) Snack b4 lunch - many times i don't, so maybe an average 1g protein
3) Lunch, noodles and potato with extras - ~22g protein
4) Dinner, rice and protein item (like sausage) with extras - 18g protein, sometimes more

So I'm about at 63g or higher.

If you want cheap protein, some plant varieties are ground flax seed (grind it in a coffee grinder), oatmeal, whole wheat noodles, nuts, legumes like lentils and so on. I've read it's theoretically possible to survive on potato's, oatmeal and milk. Need all three.

Lentils have a hearty taste. But they require extra effort. It's good to soak them to remove some of the phytic acid, but I rarely bother. I do throw out the water, same with the rice I make. Technically, you wouldn't want to eat legumes as a staple food for this reason and maybe others. However, it depends. Some people have just the right gut flora. And modern agriculture is partly to blame. And there's research hinting maybe we don't know everything about phytic acid: https://selfhacked.com/2013/10/11/phytic-acid-the-ultimate-anti-aging-compound/

Animal-based? Chicken nuggets are favorful and cheap. Ofc pork/beef taste great. I occasionally eat eggs and yogurt.


----------



## quantumbits (Feb 23, 2017)

seaturtle71 said:


> No I really mean no protein. I don't like legumes that much but force myself to eat them a few times a month. I hate rice. Nuts are hit and miss with me. i eat them a few times a month. I eat for or five avocados a day. I love them. When I binge it is on chocolates, cheetos, milkduds, juicyfruits. nothing with any protein. I get a full medical every year and everything is stellar. I asked my doctor about protein and she stated it was overrated and can damage the kidneys.


Avocados provide "complete" protein with all essential amino acids. This make it easier for hte body to create the proteins. In the future ingredient labels might decide to list the amount of essential amino acids per gram of protein just as a guide. For completeness' sake, people who don't eat animal proteins need to be more careful about getting enough essential amino acids.

Here:
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/protein/


> Vegetarians need to be aware of this. People who don’t eat meat, fish, poultry, eggs, or dairy products need to eat a variety of protein-containing foods each day in order to get all the amino acids needed to make new protein.


----------



## quantumbits (Feb 23, 2017)

This has a good section on what to eat--and also gives advice how much protein you should consume per day:
http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/060114p22.shtml


> *Type of Protein to Consider*
> The International Society of Sports Nutrition recommends that high-quality proteins be consumed. It highlights milk-derived whey protein isolate and casein and egg white and soy protein isolate as proteins that provide essential amino acids that are readily taken up by muscle to optimize nitrogen balance and muscle protein synthesis.
> 
> Research suggests that of all the essential amino acids, leucine may be the limiting factor in initiating muscle protein synthesis, and that leucine-rich proteins may be the best way to boost muscle protein synthesis after intense physical activity.7 Some researchers suggest that protein quality based on leucine content is important when consuming small meals or when the total amount of protein consumed is less than optimal.
> ...


----------

