Protein 101
Which foods have protein?
Protein is found in meat, fish and chicken. For vegetarians and those less keen on meat, there’s protein in cottage cheese, eggs, Greek yogurt, tofu, cheese sticks all the beans you might put in chili—except green beans.
There’s also protein in meat alternatives like products from Morningstar Farms and Boca. You can usually find these products in the frozen food section. Protein amounts vary so check the labels.
How much protein do I need?
I tell my clients aim for 60-80 grams per day. Anyone with kidney issues might need to be much lower so it’s important to work with a dietitian specializing in bariatrics and kidney disease to get the protein prescription right for you.
Can you get too much protein?
If you’re drinking more than a two protein drinks per day along with multiple servings of protein, it’s easy to get up to 90 grams per day or more.
There IS such a thing as too much protein and greater than 95-100 grams per day is starting to push healthy levels.
p.s. Did you know the body simply cannot absorb more than 30 grams of protein per meal? If any of your protein drinks or bars are promising more than this per serving, don’t be fooled into thinking you are giving your body that full amount.
Is protein really that important, anyway?
Oh yes my friends, it is. Here’s why. Your body needs protein for its daily operations—cell building, transportation and repair work-- just to name a few.
If you don’t feed it enough protein it will use the protein it has in storage (your muscles!!!) while stopping all fat burning activity. It does this because it senses that this is a crisis situation and perhaps a famine is ahead. Any body fat on hand has become more precious than a winning Powerball ticket and will be protected appropriately.
It’s a common myth that after WLS you can eat whatever you want because you can’t ‘overeat.’ My advice? For optimal weight loss, that you can sustain, pull a Goldilocks and strive to get the amount that’s not too low and not too high but just right.
Elizabeth Anderson MA, RD, LD
Elizabeth Anderson is a registered and licensed dietitian in New Hampshire with a private practice called CrackerJack Nutrition. Elizabeth specializes in weight management with a focus in non-judgmental bariatric surgery support. Elizabeth sees patients in her office and via Skype. Email her for a 15 complimentary session to see if she can help you. eliz@crackerjacknutrition.com.
Thanks for reiterating the importance of Protein in our diets. A good reminder for many of us.
There is some question of whether or not the science behind the limit of 30 grams of Protein per meal is actually scientific, or arbitrary. A lot of people in the fitness and bodybuilding communities find that it's not a reasonable belief, based on the experience of people who engage in intermittent fasting and consume all of their day's Protein in a very narrow window of time, and are very successful at adding muscle mass through training, while dropping fat.
food for thought, anyway:
Thank you for your reply.
Please note, as a healthcare professional and registered dietitian, it wouldn't be ethical for me to post articles based on arbitrary or anecdotal evidence.
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Perfect timing. It seems as though several people have posted about Protein confusion in the last day or three.
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