A Spotlight on Protein

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By now, you’ve probably already heard a lot about protein. In Level 1 and the Metabolic Jumpstart, we covered how protein, fiber, and healthy fats are the critical building blocks for resetting your metabolism. Now it’s time to dig deeper into protein as a tool you can use to help continue to get the best results.

Protein helps sustain energy and support your immune system. It’s the glue that holds every cell in your body together, from your hair and fingernails to your bones, organs, and muscles. You can think of that as its day job. When it comes to supporting weight loss, protein works overtime.

Protein and metabolic health

For starters, protein has a stellar reputation for reducing cravings. This is in part tied to the effect it has on reducing the levels of ghrelin, a hormone that lets the brain know when your stomach is empty and you need to eat. It’s also connected to protein’s ability to increase the levels of the body’s natural GLP-1 hormones.

Furthermore, protein works a lot like fiber (though they’re not interchangeable). Like fiber, protein is slower to digest and break down into glucose, so it both helps you feel fuller for longer and helps prevent blood sugar spikes. As you may remember, blood sugar spikes cause the body to store energy as fat. Protein helps you avoid that fate and burn more energy instead.

Protein and muscle mass

On top of helping with cravings and blood sugar, protein plays another fascinating role in weight loss: building and supporting muscles. Why is this important now? First, muscle is the body’s furnace. It burns a lot more energy than fat does. But there’s a second, crucial reason protein matters here: When you’re losing weight, your body isn’t just losing fat, it’s losing muscle, too.

Research shows that when you lose weight by eating less without making other lifestyle changes, about 20% of your weight loss comes from critical lean body mass—which includes muscle mass and bone and organ density, the stuff you actually want to keep. Thanks to its amino acid composition, protein can work against this kind of muscle loss. It’s so effective at this, in fact, that the US RDA has different protein requirements for when you’re actively losing weight.

Getting the right amount

In this class, we’re going to focus on getting sufficient protein in a delicious and satisfying way. How much protein is that though, you ask?

The US government’s Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for protein is approximately .36 g of protein per pound of body weight for adults (you’ll often see this as .8 g/kg). But this equation isn’t one-size-fits-all, and here’s where it gets tricky: People who are losing weight or who are over 60 years old are advised to get even more—.55 g/lb of body weight (or 1.2 g/kg)—because this population is more prone to losing lean body mass.

The below guidelines from the RDA can serve as benchmarks for what most Americans can benefit from:

The basics: .36 grams of protein per pound of body weight (.8g/kg). This is often generalized to an average of 46 grams per day for women and 56 grams per day for men.
For weight loss/over 60 years old: .55 grams of protein per pound of body weight (1.2 g/kg). This is often generalized to an average of 70 grams per day for women and 85 grams per day for men.
Working on building lean muscle: .73 grams of protein per pound of body weight (1.6g/kg) This is often generalized to an average of 93 grams per day for women and 113 grams per day for men.

Just like the water goal, there is a maximum you shouldn’t exceed here. But unlike the water goal, the RDA doesn’t properly represent that in its calculation. For this reason, we recommend that you calculate your protein needs based on your ideal body weight, using the RDA averages we shared above as a minimum you can always feel great about.

A quick refresher from science class

It’s not just about how much protein you’re getting. Quality plays a huge role, too. Protein is made up of 20 amino acids—think of them as the building blocks for your body. Only 11 are produced by your body itself, which means that the remaining nine —called the “essential amino acids”—have to come from the food you consume on a daily basis.

Complete protein sources contain all nine essential amino acids that your body needs. Think lean meats (such as chicken or turkey), fish and seafood, eggs, quinoa, soy products (like tofu, tempeh, and edamame), red meat, and dairy (such as Greek yogurt and cottage cheese).

Incomplete proteins are protein sources that include some (but not all) of the essential amino acids—so it’s important to eat a variety to ensure you’re piecing together the daily puzzle of all the essential amino acids your body needs. Think legumes (such as lentils, beans, peas, and chickpeas), nuts, seeds, vegetables (such as leafy greens and cruciferous veggies), and intact whole grains (in moderation). Certain combos of incomplete proteins (like grains, legumes, and nuts/seeds), when paired together, can actually give your body all nine essential amino acids.

For vegans and vegetarians, protein is often a big concern, but with a varied diet and regular meals, you can absolutely get enough protein to keep your body and muscles humming along just fine. The challenge is that you generally have to eat more volume, from sources with more calories and carbs, to get the same amount of protein and balance of amino acids that you’d get from animal protein. So it takes some work to get the protein you need while keeping your portions in check. For more tailored tips on vegan and vegetarian protein intake, click here.

Once you start focusing on getting the protein you need, and become more familiar with the many sources available to you, you’ll see opportunities to add it to every meal and snack.

MAKE IT YOUR GOAL

Your goal for this class is to bring awareness to your protein intake to ensure it’s at a level you feel is satisfying and sustainable.

Here’s how this might look:

First choose a category from the list earlier in this lesson. Go with “basics” if you’re at a stable weight or feel pretty sure you’re not getting to that number most days of the week. Choose “weight loss” if you’re still losing weight or want some extra support for cravings or weight maintenance. Finally, try for “lean muscle” if you’re doing a lot of strength training.
Next, look at the generalized average within that category that applies to you. For “basic,” for example, you’ll see 46 grams per day if you’re a woman and 56 grams per day if you’re a man. This is your baseline if you’ve chosen that category.
Finally, use the grams per pound calculation on your ideal body weight. If you’re, say, a woman doing “basic” and your ideal weight is 150 pounds, you’ll multiply this by .36 to get 54 grams per day. This is the number you’d want to hit. (If the formula trips you up, feel free to just stick to the generalized average.)

In the above example, your ideal protein range would be 54-110 grams of protein per day. Because we know this can be a big leap for some people and leaps take practice, you just need to work on moving closer to this goal to mark it as done.

Note: If you have been diagnosed with kidney disease or underlying renal conditions, please discuss your diet with your primary care physician before altering your protein intake.