Protein – The Building Block of Life and Optimal Living
Are you having 0.7-1g of protein per pound of bodyweight?
No?
Let’s get one thing clear – Protein farts are not a thing.
When your body has excessive gas, this comes from your intestinal bacteria consuming it and then releasing gas. This isn’t the protein it’s consuming, but it may likely be the different plant fibers or sugars used in your protein shake, protein bar, or may even be another food you ate with it.
Trust me, I’m a gassy guy. I went carnivore and you didn’t hear a peep out of me. Wonder why?
I wanted to hit that on the head to we don’t get more resistance here.
Protein is way too beneficial to fear.
Let’s talk about benefits really quick:
Muscle recovery
Yes, you know this to some degree. But don’t value how key this is. You’re in a calorie deficit, your body will try to consume any excess tissue it can, and if you don’t have sufficient protein to rebuild, it’s going to use your protein.
When you age, the common believe is “your metabolism slows down.” This means 2 things
You’re NOT moving as much due to lifestyle
You’re muscle is wasting away due to lack of training and protein intake.
Tendons, ligaments, hair, skin, nails, and joints
All of these things are made up of amino acids. You think the collagen supplement you’re taking is making up for it? Well you likely wouldn’t even need it if you had sufficient complete proteins in your diet already.
Amino acids and Neurotransmitters
Basically, understand that amino acids are what make up a protein to make it active in the body for all the benefits.
It’s kind of like thinking of vitamins in fruit. Yes, the fruit has carbohydrates, but this massive benefit comes from the micronutrients as well. Amino acids aren’t technically micronutrients, but they are as vital.
So, beyond the amazing benefits above, there is also incredible dynamics it has with neurotransmitters and appetite.
Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers in the body. You may recognize some of these; Dopamine, Serotonin, Epinephrine, Acetylcholine, just to name a few.
Amino acids the precursors to these neurotransmitters. If you don’t have sufficient amino acids, you possibly could literally be shifting your bodies personality traits.
Interesting test to take is called the Braverman’s Test (click here to try out the test). This is a personality test, it’s quite lengthy and detailed but it will assess your neurotransmitter dominance. I wouldn’t take the test more than once ever 2-3 years. Once you take the test, you could then change ruin the validity of it because you are recognizing the questions.
I took this test about 4-5 years ago, and again last year. The coolest thing I found was they will show you what you lack in your amino acids, and I had none. I had increased my protein intake a variety so much in the last few years, I generally wonder if it improved my results.
When you do lack one, they give you recommendations for different amino acids you could be lacking, and how to improve it with your diet. Not saying it’s 100% reliable but this was given credit by Charles Poliquin, one of the most successful strength coaches of all time.
Appetite Regulation
When you eat fats or carbs on their own, you modestly satisfy some craving. But commonly it doesn’t last. There could be many reasons for this, but there is something incredible that happens with protein.
This is well documented in research that even in a deficit, having higher protein intake can decrease appetite AND maintain energy.
I’m not proposing you eat only protein for this reason, but when you can think about is consider the protein kind gives you the ability to 3 things.
You eat the protein with fats or carbs, so you still get immediate energy from one of those.
You get more physical fullness from the protein consumption with the other form of energy
You get some energy from the process of breaking the protein into amino acids – so it does have delayed energy effect.
So hopefully now you see, it’s not just about muscle, it’s about creating a balance in all the nutrients you get.
How often should you eat protein? Post-workout shakes?
Any meal should be centered around it for all the reasons I stated above. It’s how you start planning meals, and most cultural ideas are around this concept anyway. When someone says “What’s for dinner?” The statement usually is around the major protein sources, or it should.
(This article will be biased to animal-based meats, but even if you plant based you need to look at your food that way for all the reasons above, and plant based proteins do not have all essential amino acids. Please try and supplement with Essential Amino Acids if you do eat plant based so you can make your food serve you adequately.)
The next idea is the old “anabolic window” of having protein within 45 minutes after your workout.
Turns out this isn’t the biggest issue. Research changes constantly.
There was also an idea of higher frequency, having up to 8 meals a day for more protein synthesis.
Again, not the case.
The protein distribution is the key focus. The meta-analysis I read (which is a study of many studies), describe the key being separating your feedings every 4-5 hours, distributing your protein evenly throughout the day.
This is both an advantage for muscle building and repair, but also appetite regulation. If you wait until dinner time to consume most of your calories, you drastically increase your odds of being tired and overconsuming them.
But if you have the protein spread out over 3-5 meals throughout the day, it’s far more likely you’ll have the benefits of not feeling starved of energy, and just need a top off meal near the end of the day.
Now, here’s where I’m gonna throw you a bit for a loop. It doesn’t make 2 meals terrible.
The reason I bring this up is because of those who like to intermittent fast, like myself.
I go at least 14-18 hours without eating, I often only have 2 meals a day, sometimes 3, and don’t worry about the perfect 4-5 meals.
Why?
Well first off, I get very satisfied with those 2 meals, even if I’m in a deficit. So for me I enjoy that experience.
Second, it helps me with my consideration of consistency. I still distribute the protein over 2 meals, but I get the protein quantity in without any issue whatsoever.
So, you may think “What about the ideal protein synthesis!”
Honestly isn’t my biggest battle. I’m what most call an ‘easy-gainer’ and thus my challenge doesn’t lie within the protein consumption or gaining size right now.
Right now, I’m in a deficit and I just need my food satisfying and consistent.
However, if I was in a gaining phase, or if I have any athlete or client looking to gain size, that the muscle recovery is the most important thing, then I heavily encourage the high meal frequency.
And the other major point I made which EVERYONE needs to consider is consistency.
Thus, I usually just ask people how often they want to eat. Some say 2 so we do 2. Some say 3-4.
I will discourage anything higher than 5, because if we want consistency then planning gets harder and there is no benefit, I’ve seen to 6 or more meals.
Trust me I use to do it. I would honestly lose track of how many meals I had in a day.
Should you eat after your workout?
Yes, certainly, but you don’t need to mix your protein shake in the showers.
Remember I said I have 2-3. The 3 will come out when I say have a hockey game a night. I would prefer to have some recovery material and some sugars to replace the muscle glycogen after the exercise, but it’s close to bed so I keep light and easily digestible like a protein shake and fruit or oats.
Now I also only do strength training in the afternoon, BUT if I do a morning workout, I’m going t
I know I gave you a lot of variability there but that’s because there can be, but go from what your currently do, and let’s try to get ride of snack as much as you can.
So say you eat 3 meals now. Take your body weight, divide it by 3, and that’s your protein goal for each meal. It will blow you away how many eggs you can eat, so don’t go after that unless you really like eggs. Use this week-to-week method to get your protein number up
Week 1
Start with naming 5 protein types you like, and they you can cook in 2-3 ways. You can then always have variety in your routine.
Make one of them a protein shake so you can always add that in to top off your protein requirement. Or you can something around with nothing else is cooked.
Just double your protein you think your need or use your palm, and assume your palm is 20grams.
Week 2-4
Buy a food scale. I cannot explain how important that is. Research on an app how much each is and get that protein number up. Uncooked is more accurate but cooked measure is more practical. You choose what make sense for you.
Start to meal PLAN, meaning write down on a calendar or white board what you’re planning on eating that week.
Weeks 5-6
Memorize how many grams or ounces you need so you don’t always need the app.
Continue to meal plan each week to ensure you start to create an instinct around having the protein source ready to cook, or already have it cooked.
Weeks 7-8
Then memorize visually what that looks like. Start to guess it then weigh it, until you can eat it without measuring.
Now using this within 2 months you should make this instinctive, but don’t be afraid to reach for the scale or app. I still do when it’s a new food or if I’m aiming to be in a deficit to be sure of it.
Remember, this is a skill. Like any skill it takes time and practice. I’ve worked with people on this routinely and those who use these steps, get it done.
This is where your healthy diet plan starts. Within this approach you will easily improve your food.