Protein, is it necessary?

It has been noted that humans can survive without carbohydrates but cannot survive without fat proteins. I would never advocate a zero / low carb diet because it's true I just cannot get my mind to be in favor of such a plan.

high protein foods 

I know people who have tried them and met with success just as I know people who have tried them and met with disaster. I think that for the average individual the low / zero carb diet is too extreme and the possible results derived from such an eating plan is not significantly greater than those from a less extreme eating routine.

I was never a high protein foods eater and only in the last four months did I finally decide to increase my protein intake. Since doing so I've lost about 5lbs (within three weeks), I've added maybe a 1/4 of an inch to my arms and my lifts have all increased. I am also more defined, I have no less energy when I was eating more carbohydrates.

Can I take credit for all this for increasing protein? Maybe not all of it but I certainly believe it has played a huge part in it. Allow me to go back a few years to when I was rowing.

The year is 1995 and I had a reasonable year on the water and met with success of the water in the form of the Concept 2 ergometers.

I was doing a lot of training, probably 10-12 sessions per week, and only two were weight sessions and those two sessions were endurance based i.e. doing 80 reps with 50% of my 1RM.

I would estimate that an average daily consumption was about 150 grams and most of that would have come from milk. At this time I consumed on average about 4250 kcals per day, sometimes over 5000 kcals which meant that protein accounted for at best a measly 14% of my daily intake.

I knew very little about protein back then and I really wish I had. In my opinion protein foods is a very important component of an active individual eating routine.

I would have been stronger and more powerful had I consumed more protein but at that time I was not wise to the benefits of eating more protein and less carbohydrates.

Now I weigh about 230lbs and my body fat percentage are the same as it was when I was rowing. When we were rowing we would gain weight (up to 10lbs in the winter) and promptly lose it all come spring, this meant that all the strength and power gained during the winter was lost which in a way defeated the purpose of being in the gym in the first place.

If my protein-rich foods intake had of being higher I could have negated the catabolic effects of all the aerobic training and maintained most of the gains made during the winter months.

Have you ever noticed how a bodybuilder with 7% bodyfat looks compared to a marathon runner with 7% bodyfat - yes he is bigger but the added definition can " My Suggestion is" be attributed to the rich protein diet versus the carbohydrate loaded diet for running.

Studies have been conducted with elite swimmers in the USA and instead of allowing them to consume the standard endurance athlete eating routine (75% carbohydrates, 15% Protein and 10% Fat) they changed them to a diet higher in protein (40% Carbohydrates, 40% Protein, and 30% Fat), it was a Zone diet as advocated by Dr. Barry Sears.

The end result of this was that nearly all the swimmers saw their swimming times improve. Some scientists disputed the findings and even still we have people who are strongly opposed to a high protein diet.

They are opposed as they feel red meat is dangerous and in high quantities it is but we can get protein from fish, poultry, dairy products, and supplements, etc. which reduces the credibility of those opposed to a high protein diet.

I think that protein went out of fashion with the advance of the low-fat diet fads - even today there are plenty of people who think that a plate of pasta is the perfect evening meal.

I know some people who feel that the stir in the sauce they add is more than enough meat, thank you very much! In my very strong opinion the low fat / high carbohydrate diet has resulted in more fat people in society and unless people adopt a more sensible eating plan the problem will persist and develop.

Obesity started to rise in Japan when McDonald's opened their first restaurant and with the influx of franchise outlets and western processed convenience foods the problem is getting worse.

There were less obese people 50 years ago, yes they may have taken on average more exercise but they also consumed more protein and ate less carbohydrates and of the carbohydrates they ate most would have been in the form of starch i.e. potatoes etc

Now if we take this into the jungle and look at which animals are the leanest we see the carnivores i.e. Lions, Tigers, Cheetahs, Leopards, Panthers even Crocodiles being very lean and athletic/powerful.

The animals that survive primarily on vegetation like the Elephant, Hippopotamus, and Pandas etc. are compared to their carnivore brethren more obese. This is not to say that such animals are not powerful or that their diet is bereft of protein for we are all aware of plant proteins.

The point is that the ones who eat meat have a much higher percentage of protein in their diets than those who do not eat meat. Does this mean that a Homosapien can adopt a diet more in line with that of a tiger and enjoy the benefits of increased power and less body fat at the same time? In a word, YES! Obviously, we do not want to adopt the exact diet of a tiger but certainly, there are huge benefits to be gained from increasing your consumption of protein.

So we have established that more protein will be of benefit to an active individual training with weights, the next question is: how much protein do I need? Lot's of articles will tell you that 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight is more than enough.

I feel that 1 gram of protein is not enough and I personally recommend 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight and ensure that this amount of protein accounts for roughly 35% of my daily calorific intake. For me weighing 230lbs, eating 1.5 grams per pound means consuming 345 grams of protein per day.

I've never actually managed to get 345 grams but I almost always get over 300 grams per day and this is at least 1.3 grams per pound per day. I feel that whatever we aim for we may well fall short so the principle is to aim high and fall a little short knowing full well that you are still consuming more than enough to derive benefit.

Based on 345 grams of protein equating to 35% of total calories, means that I should be consuming 3950 kcals a day which is by no means excessive but is more than enough to ensure that I have enough energy and that my workouts are productive.

Far too many people eat too little for fear of putting on weight. The fact is that if you are training hard be it in the gym or on the track, the amount of extra calories you need to consume to gain blubber is more than you think

To all of you who are reading this try eating more protein and increasing your overall daily calorific intake for a month combined, of course with hard, productive workouts in the gym and you can see if it makes the difference that I feel it has made to me and make your fitness goals.

My personal ideal eating routine and the one I try and adhere to consists of: 35% Protein, 50% Carbohydrates and 15% Fat.

The reason I opt for these ratios and not the 40-40-30 of Dr. Sears is for a simple reason, if we assume that there is more fat in what we eat than we know or are aware of then if we aim for 15% we might end up with say 20% or maybe 25% and correspondingly less carbohydrates.

Whereas I feel that if we aim for 30% fat as in the Zone diet we may end up with more than 30% and for me personally, this is too much. As you have already seen I aim for 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight a day. Seeing as some of you will opt for more and some for less, I made up the charts below.

Each chart lists your bodyweight and then gives you your protein, carbohydrate, and fat grams per day plus the total kcals that they equate to. I did up the charts based on consuming .75, 1, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75 & 2 grams of protein per pound per day. If your exact weight is not listed please pick the bodyweight closest to yours i.e. if you weigh 209lbs use 200lbs as your weight.

If you wish to base, your diet on 0.75 grams of protein per lb of bodyweight see the table below:

Your Weight	Protein Grams	Carbohydrates Grams	Fat Grams	Total Calories
100	75	107	14	855
120	90	128	17	1026
140	105	150	19	1197
160	120	171	22	1368
180	135	193	25	1539
200	150	214	28	1710
200	165	235	31	1881
240	180	257	34	2052
260	195	278	36	2223
280	210	300	39	2394
300	225	321	42	2565

If you wish to base, your diet on 1.00 grams of protein per lb of bodyweight see the table below: 

Your Weight	Protein Grams	Carbohydrates Grams	Fat Grams	Total Calories
100	75	143	10	1143
120	90	172	23	1372
140	105	200	27	1600
160	120	229	30	1829
180	135	257	34	2057
200	150	286	38	2286
200	165	315	42	2514
240	180	343	46	2743
260	195	372	49	2972
280	210	400	53	3200
300	225	429	57	3429

If you wish to base, your diet on 1.25 grams of protein per lb of bodyweight see the table below

Your Weight	Protein Grams	Carbohydrates Grams	Fat Grams	Total Calories
100	125	179	24	1435
120	150	215	29	1722
140	175	251	34	2009
160	200	286	38	2296
180	225	322	43	2583
200	250	358	48	2870
200	275	394	53	3157
240	300	430	58	3444
260	325	465	62	3731
280	350	501	67	4018
300	375	537	72	4300

If you wish to base, your diet on 1.50 grams of protein per lb of bodyweight see the table below

Your Weight	Protein Grams	Carbohydrates Grams	Fat Grams	Total Calories
100	150	214	29	1720
120	180	257	35	2064
140	210	300	41	2408
160	240	342	46	2752
180	270	385	52	3096
200	300	428	58	3440
200	330	471	64	3784
240	360	514	70	4128
260	390	556	75	4472
280	420	599	81	4816
300	450	642	87	5160

If you wish to base, your diet on 1.75 grams of protein per lb of bodyweight see the table below:

Your Weight	Protein Grams	Carbohydrates Grams	Fat Grams	Total Calories
100	175	250	33	2000
120	210	300	40	2400
140	245	350	46	2800
160	280	400	53	3200
180	315	450	59	3600
200	350	500	66	4000
200	385	550	73	4400
240	420	600	79	4800
260	455	650	86	5200
280	490	700	92	5600
300	525	750	99	6000

If you wish to base, your diet on 2.00 grams of protein per lb of bodyweight see the table below:

Your Weight	Protein Grams	Carbohydrates Grams	Fat Grams	Total Calories
100	200	285	38	2282
120	240	342	46	2745
140	280	399	53	3198
160	320	456	61	3659
180	360	513	68	4111
200	400	570	76	4572
200	440	627	84	5032
240	480	684	91	5484
260	520	741	99	5945
280	560	798	106	6397
300	600	855	114	6857

The amount of protein in a few common food items:

A can of tuna (200 grams) has 53 grams of protein

A liter of slimline milk has 37 grams of protein

An average chicken breast has roughly 15 grams of protein

5 Weetabix will give you about 10 grams of protein

A bread roll (125 grams) will give you 15 grams of protein

100 grams of Whey Protein gives you 80 grams of protei

This is very obviously not an exhaustive list but it gives you a starting point. It's not easy getting 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day. Let's take a 220lb man as an example. He is looking to consume 330 grams of protein each day.

For Breakfast Jake has:

4 Weetabix

500ml of milk

250ml Orange Juice

50 grams Ministry Whey (he's got good taste!) with 300ml milk

Total calories: 900 kcals and 316 kcals(79.1 grams) came from protein which is 35%

For the 11am snack Jake has:

1 apple

1 standard protein bar

1 cup of coffee

Total calories: 370 kcals and 70 kcals (17.5 grams) came from protein which is 19%

For lunch Jake has:

1 can of tuna

1 bread roll

1 cup of soup

Total calories: 620 kcals and 280 kcals (70 grams) came from protein which is 45%

For the 3-30pm snack Jake has:

75 grams Ministry Whey with 500ml milk

Total calories: 489 kcals and 316 kcals (79 grams) came from protein which is 65

For dinner Jake has:

Chicken breast

80 grams Pasta

Vegetables

1 liter Ribena or similar cordial type beverage

Total calories: 900 kcals and 100 kcals (25 grams) came from protein which is 11%

Before bed Jake has:

500ml milk

6 fig roll

Total calories: 574 kcals and 100 kcals (25 grams) came from protein which is 17%

Over the day Jake consumed: 3853 kcals and 295.6 grams of protein which equates to 31% of total calories.

If you cannot or will not consume milk then adding a can of tuna to the above with another bread roll would make up for the shortfall almost precisely.