What is protein?

What is protein?

Protein is a compound made up of chains of amino acids. In all, there are 22 amino acids. For the sake of humans, 8-9 are “essential” amino acids, meaning amino acids we must get from our diets. The rest of “non-essential,” which we create ourselves using our own sources. Protein is essential for building muscles, repairing tissues, red blood cells, and synthesizing hormones. If we have a deficiency in a certain amino acid it could prevent certain hormones from being synthesized. For example, if you have a diet lacking valine you’ll have a negative hydrogen ion balance which can manifest as insomnia and skin hypersensitivity.

Essential amino acids

This is important for the protein argument. I put 8-9 essential amino acids because tyrosine is essential in only some cases and selenocysteine is unclassified. Otherwise, the list of essential amino acids (with their recommended daily mg per kg amount) is as follows…

Isoleucine – 20mg/kg

Leucine – 39 mg/kg

*Lysine – 30 mg/kg

Methionine – 10.4 mg/kg

Cysteine – 4.1 mg/kg

Phenylalanine + Tyrosine = 25 mg/kg

Threonine – 15 mg/kg

*Tryptophan – 4 mg/kg

Valine – 26 mg/kg

NOTE: mg per kg means the amount of milligrams needed per kilogram of body weight. To figure this out, find your weight in kilograms. For every kilogram of body weight you have, you need 26mg of valine. Got it?

Cool. But how much proteins do I need?

This is a tough question. Some people will send asks saying, “I’m a 14 year old girl, how much protein do I need?” You’re asking the wrong question! What you SHOULD be asking is, “I’m a 14 year old girl who lifts heavy weight 3x a week – how much protein do I need?” This is a better question, because protein intake is more dependent on activity level than anything else.

1. Body builders

Multiply your weight by .6-.9 – that’s how many grams of protein you need a day to build muscle.

2. Cardio junkies

Multiply your weight by .5-.7 – really, though, with cardio you should focus on your carbohydrate intake more than protein, but this depends too! If you’re VERY active with cardio stick with the .7, if you’re a casual runner stick with .5.

3. Active adult

You lift occasionally but aren’t looking to build muscle mass, or you’re more interested in maintaining/toning/etc. Multiply your weight by .4-.6

4. Lazy Bum

Don’t exercise? The idea of exercise makes you want to puke? Multiply your weight by .4.

I hate math – give me an example!

I’m a 140 lb 22 year old female. On days that I lift weights I try to consume about 80 grams of protein a day. On days I don’t lift weights, I stick to 70 grams of protein a day.

That’s a ton of protein! Or is it? I’m confused.

A lot of vegetarians complain that people always ask them how they get their protein. However, if you ever return the question: “How much protein do you eat in a day?” 9 times out of 10 they couldn’t tell you. Hell, most people couldn’t tell you what protein is beyond a superficial understanding of the word. Let’s break down some food choices.

1 large egg has 6.7 g of protein in it

1 cup of spinach has .9 g of protein

1 cup of kidney beans has 13 g of protein

1 cup of apples has 0g of protein

So if in one meal you had 2 eggs, a cup of spinach, a cup of kidney beans and a small apple (weird meal, I know, but hang with me!) you’d have consumed 27.3g of protein. Depending on who you are, that can be up to half a days worth of protein. Protein is dependent on the TYPE and AMOUNT of food you eat.Obviously, if you eat steak 3 times a day you’re going to get more protein than if you ate one apple 3 times a day. However, if you ate 5 cups of spinach 3 times a day you may get more protein than someone who had a 3oz portion of steak. You with me?

But what about that amino acid stuff – I see a lot of “protein” but not a lot of “amino acid.” They’re the same…but why are they labeled differently?

This is a HUGE part of the argument between meat eaters and non-meat eaters about protein! And, sad (happy?) for you this requires its own special post – so tune in next time for “Complete vs. Incomplete Sources of Protein.