"How much protein vs. carbs should we be eating?" "If I eat a vegetarian meal, won't I be lacking in protein?" I get asked these questions A LOT, and I would say it's one of the most controversial topics among nutritionists and health experts. So let me give you both sides of the coin, and also explain the necessity for animal protein (or lack thereof) vs. plant-based protein.
Let me start off by saying that eating sufficient protein is key for optimal nutrition, especially to maintain balanced blood sugar levels and hormones.
I strongly emphasize the importance of getting sufficient healthy proteins, fats and fiber in our daily diet, and ideally in every meal, for blood sugar stabilization and a faster metabolism, both of which aid in weight loss. Also, including these 3 elements in each meal helps avoid the onset of sugar cravings (which so many of us suffer from!)
Plus, as many trainers/athletes can tell you, it's important to eat plenty of protein in order to build muscle mass in your body, which translates to burning more fat calories.
On the flip side, people often overestimate the amount of protein they need. It’s easy to get swayed by the “protein-craze trend”, but people forget to PERSONALIZE. Our protein needs vary depending on our lifestyle, and our current stage in life. Additionally, animal protein can be harder to digest, and for people with digestive issues, it’s often better to stick to smaller portions of protein at each meal.
PERSONALIZING YOUR PROTEIN NEEDS IS KEY. Focus on your current lifestyle and current health goals, and find what works for you (instead of listening to others or getting swayed by proteIn trends/fads). Also remember, we’re not only what we eat, we are what we DIGEST, so you need to eat the types of protein (and ideal quantities) that your body is able to properly digest.
Let me start off by explaining risks of eating too much protein, then delve into some tips for defining your optimal protein needs, including tips for animal vs. plant-based proteins.
WHY WE NEED TO BE CAUTIOUS OF EATING TOO MUCH PROTEIN
It’s become a widespread myth that we need to eat enormous amounts of protein to be strong, when in fact, overdosing on protein can lead to health issues (particularly in industrialized countries). Excess animal protein and fat is more difficult to digest, and can clog our cells, blood and colon. I also see people gaining weight when they focus on eating too much protein for their bodies/lifestyle.
The biggest issue I see is when people want to lose weight, and steer towards the popular very high-protein and extremely low carb diets, without fully understanding the impact this can have on their overall and longer-term health. While these diets can work for some people in the short term to lose weight (there is a good explanation on how and why they work, but I’ll save that for another day!), I really don’t recommend these diets as a way of living.
High protein/fat diets that are extremely low-carb tend to focus on foods that lack fiber and nutrients, and under-emphasize the importance of eating enough nutrient-dense healthy carbs, namely vegetables and fruits. This can lead to digestive and hormonal problems, such as constipation, heavier menstrual bleeding, and longer term more serious issues such as osteoporosis.
WHAT IS THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF PROTEIN FOR ME?
Again, this is very individual.
Just to give you a few numbers, the USDA recommends 0.36 grams of protein for every lb of body weight, so based on this, a 130 lb woman needs aprox 47-50 grams of protein per day. That’s pretty low. Yet the average American adult consumes 100-120 grams of protein every day, and a huge chunk of that comes from high-fat animal products (which comes with negative health consequences as mentioned above)! So there is a huge discrepancy!
I generally recommend a bit higher than the USDA (and wider range), about 0.5-0.9 grams per pound of ideal body weight, with some degree of personalization. This means, for example, if your ideal body weight is 120 lbs, you should be eating somewhere between 60 and 108 grams of protein per day.
Where you fall in that range will vary depending on many factors including your stage of life and your current health goals. For example, if you are trying to lose some weight and doing heavier weights, or maybe you are postpartum and breastfeeding, your protien needs will be on the upper range of that. If you are just looking to maintain a thin figure with long lean muscles, and you’re a barre-yoga fan, you are probably ok with the lower range of that (0.5-0.7 grams per pound of body weight).
Most important however, is making sure each meal has some protein, and mixing up your protein sources (including having some meals with just vegetarian sources of protein).
I personally have found - with myself and the majority of my clients - that making sure we have at least 25-30 grams of protein in each main meal (that can be just 10-15 grams if its a snack, and up to 35-40 grams in your biggest meal), helps for satiety, muscle growth, weight loss,.. everything. (This means roughly a total of 70 - 110 grams total in a day, depending on your sex, how much exercise you’re doing, for women on what stage of your cycle you’re in, etc.)
But it’s equally important to vary your types of protein, and keep your meals digestion friendly, too.
We must exercise BALANCE when it comes to protein (like in everything in life!), and instead of only focusing on the grams of protein, it’s important to also focus on the QUALITY of the proteins we consume, and to make better choices on a regular basis.
ANIMAL VS. PLANT-BASED PROTEINS
While I think many people benefit from small amounts of animal protein (I know I do, READ HERE why I’m not fully vegan), it has been shown that many people benefit from reducing the amount of animal protein we eat, and simultaneously increasing the amount of plant-based foods we eat. (READ HERE benefits of a vegan or mostly plant-based diet).
Let me explain why. You’re heard me talk about acid vs. alkaline. The digestion of meat leaves a large amount of acidic residues in our bodies. This acidic residue contributes to faster aging of our skin, and creates an environment in our bodies more susceptible to disease. Also, digesting excess animal protein leads to putrefaction in our gut, which gives way to overgrowth of bad bacteria in our intestines. Hence it’s important to limit the animal protein we consume on a daily/weekly basis (especially if we have gut issues), and balance it with plenty of plant-based foods, especially alkaline veggies.
And then of course there is all the horrendous research on animal cruelty, damage to the environment from industrialized factory farming of animals, and more! So just be mindful!
That being said, as already mentioned, I am still a fan of including some good-quality animal protein into your daily diet (or a few times per week), as consuming animal protein adds lots of nutrients that are hard to get from other sources, and it’s easier to keep our carb intake lower when we eat animal protein. But I recommend to switch it up and include some meals with only vegetarian sources of protein.
I personally eat animal protein once a day, sometimes twice a day, 5 or 6 days a week (leaving 1-2 day(s) a week fully plant-based). But again, its important to personalzie your protein intake based on your needs and lifestyle and digestion.
Here I comment on why I AM NOT A VEGAN.
And HERE I share both benefits and drawbacks of a vegan diet.
**My suggestions for eating animal protein are to buy organic, hormone-free meat that is grass-fed (vs. grain fed), and free-range when it comes to poultry & their eggs. Also, I suggest limiting animal protein to a decent portion size (4-6 oz.) once a day, and always eating it in combination with lots of low-carb veggies such as green leafy vegetables.
In particular, aim for eating more fish and seafood over land animals, as they tend to be leaner, higher in healthy fats (omega-3s) and easier to digest. Just look out for the source, and beware of toxicity. Aim for wild fish vs. farm-raised, and limit consumption of high-mercury fish (such as tuna) to maximum once per week.
It’s important to realize that plant-based proteins are an EXCELLENT source of protein for humans, and many people underestimate their role in our diet.
**My suggestions for eating Plant Proteins are, AGAIN, to buy organic when possible, and mix them up! Aim to eat as much variety of plant-based foods as possible. Just be cautious with your carb intake (as many plant proteins also contain carbs), and familiarize yourself with the higher-protein plant foods.
Our body doesn’t use protein per se, it uses amino acids, and as a quick reminder, chains of amino acids form proteins. The human body contains 22 different amino acids, and of these, there are 9 that we need to get from our diet alone. These 9 are called the "essential" amino acids, and surprisingly enough, there are several plant-based foods that give us all 9 of these essential amino acids (aka "complete proteins”). Some examples include: quinoa, buckwheat, hemp seeds and most soy products.
Not only that, our body combines the amino acids once they’re consumed, so we don’t need to eat foods with all 9 amino acids in each meal; our body breaks down, combines and re-organizes these amino acids to form the proteins we need.
What are the best sources of plant-based proteins? There are so many (READ HERE!), but here are some of my favorites (and I've included the approx. grams of protein per serving):
Lentils (18g of protein per 1 cup cooked serving)
Tempeh (16g per ½ cup serving)
Chlorella (16g per oz serving)
Hemp seeds (15g per 3 tbsp serving)
Chickpeas/garbanzos (15g per 1 cup cooked serving)
Spirulina (12g per 1oz serving)
Green peas (9g per 1 cup cooked serving)
Quinoa (7g per 1 cup cooked serving)
Buckwheat (6g per 1 cup cooked serving)
Kale (6g per 2 cups raw serving/ 4g per 2 cups cooked)
Almonds (6g per oz serving)
Sunflower seeds (6g per oz serving)
Cashews (5g per oz serving)
Pumpkin seeds (5g per oz serving)
Broccoli (5g per 1 cup cooked serving)
Walnuts (4.5g per oz serving)
Chia seeds (4g per 2 tbsp serving)
So clearly if you’re eating a well-balanced vegetarian diet, with a wide variety of vegetables, greens, sprouts, legumes, nuts, grains, etc., - especially if you supplement with a good quality protein powder - then you can meet your protein needs. Plus, when you compare in calorie terms, for the same number of calories, you can get roughly the same amount of protein from plant sources than animal protein.
But again, mixing it up with animal protein can help you stay “lower-carb” and you’ll get a more diverse nutrient intake, which is important.
SO, MY KEY SUGGESTIONS ARE:
Focus LESS on reaching some external goal of 100 grams of protein per day, and focus MORE on getting some source of protein, healthy fat and fiber in each meal to keep your metabolism strong and hormones balanced (which can be as simple as a small kale & avocado salad with hemp seeds!).
Start eating more plant-based foods and having some meals with just vegetarian (easier to digest) sources of protein. Try eating a wider variety of plant based foods; now you’ve learned there are so many awesome sources filled with those essential amino acids.
When it comes to animal protein, try experimenting with consuming it just once a day, 4-6 ounces (at least some days!), combining both sea and land animals, and most importantly, limit farm-raised, non-organic animal protein sources. And always pair your animal protein with plenty of vegetables!
To increase your protein intake without necessarily increasing your animal protein portions, I suggest:
combine your small animal portion size (ex 3-4 oz) with 1/4 cup beans or lentils
increase to 3 eggs instead of just 1 or 2 eggs, and again, try adding 1/4 cup of cottage cheese, or hummus, or beans/lentils/chickpeas for added protein
Include a “green” protein smoothie in your day, using a plant-based high-quality protein powder with at least 20 grams of protein (and then add some nut butters and/or seeds and high-protein veggies, and/or greek yogurt or cottage cheese in your smoothie to up the protein).
Add a scoop of unflavored collagen peptides to your coffee or matcha latte
Make “healthy desserts” using protein powders. I add chocolate protein powder to my overnight oats and chia puddings, as well as my energy balls and homemade pancakes!
Add nutritional yeast and different seeds (such as hemp seeds, pumpkin or sunflower seeds) to your vegetarian meals such as soups and salads
Lastly, experiment and see what works for you. Maybe 75-90 grams of protein per day with a mix of animal and plant proteins will help you have optimal digestion and lose weight, or maybe you need 100-110 grams of protein a day. Everyone is different, and no one can dictate that for you; it’s a process of trial and error and remember our protein needs vary with different stages of life!
If you need some delicious vegetarian recipes (with tons of easy-to-digest protein), let me know, I love to share!
Love and Protein,
Mariana