Protien

[SteelyPhil]

I was recently talking to a friend of mine about high protien diets and he said "I've been eating a lot of <some fish?> but it contains a different kind of protien" I guess i had always assumed there was only 1 kind.
Is there 2?
Is there a difference?
How much protien is the best for me? (6 foot tall 10 stone give or take, needing to add a bit of muscle mass but i quite like being thin and lean more than heavy).



Any knowledge/advice would be helpful and I would be grateful. :)

[Prophet]

Protein is any form or amount of amino acid chains. There is a certain number of these amino acids that are essential (you HAVE to eat them). Meat and dairy have all of the essential amino acids. Plant sources have a partial amount, so you have to combine plants to get "complete protein".

Eat about 1 gram of complete protein per pound of bodyweight. That seems to work. If you are trying to grow muscles, up that to about 1.5g/lb.

[Incredible Bulk]

he is talking about amino acid profiles...

chicken, fish, eggs, vegetables all have different profiles to each other and some better than others.

i used to mix and match meats with meals to get a fuller amino acid profile, i.e. eating eggs with a meat dish or surf and turf

[SteelyPhil]

Ahh right, I knew about differeing Amino's. Cheers guys.


Oh aye: I loath eggs. I eat Red Meat (beef steak lean), Gammon, chicken and the occasional tuna steak. I don't imagine that gets me everything but i also have 2 cups of milk and 2 cereals and milk a day.

[spirez]

Protein is any form or amount of amino acid chains. There is a certain number of these amino acids that are essential (you HAVE to eat them). Meat and dairy have all of the essential amino acids. Plant sources have a partial amount, so you have to combine plants to get "complete protein".

Eat about 1 gram of complete protein per pound of bodyweight. That seems to work. If you are trying to grow muscles, up that to about 1.5g/lb.

That's probably too much. It's between 0.8g and 2.0g per kilogram, depending on your level of activity.

http://www.wannabebig.com/article.php?articleid=54&pageid=2

[Cuchulain82]

That's probably too much. It's between 0.8g and 2.0g per kilogram, depending on your level of activity.

http://www.wannabebig.com/article.php?articleid=54&pageid=2
There's a lot of debate about this. I heard an online interview with John Berardi in which he said he's recommended as much as 5g per kg/day for individuals. The exact number seems to change depending on who you ask.

[spirez]

5 seems loads! I'm guessing that would be for elite level athletes training 6 hours a day, 6 days per week or something?

Excess protein releases acids when it's broken down, which the body neutralizes by releasing calcium. Some experts believe that calcium can be taken from the bone if levels of protein are ridiculously high. I respect Berardi but 5g seems rediculous imo

[Gary]

oh noes i eated too much protein and now my kidneys don't work![/sarcasm]


For my macronutrients, I'd rather get too much protein than fat, carbs or alcohol.

[Incredible Bulk]

just ordered a 10lb tub from myprotein

oh no :D

[Mr Punch]

The figure you see around most often is 1g/kg BW for sedentary people, and more like 2g+/kg BW for people training, regardless of whether thay want to bulk or not.

5g does seem excessive, but who knows.

Bear in mind, everyone's body is different, and that goes for metabolism and absorption too.

General rule of thumb: if your sweat smells really ammoniac (word?!) you probably have a protien deficiency and your muscles are eating themselves.

If your pee is really bright yellow, you're probably eating too much.
Also, if you eat too much, you'll probably drop your guts a lot and get bad skids... :eek: disgusting but true...! ;)

[Incredible Bulk]

bright yellow is usually down to vit B

5g per kg is hugely excessive, i would have to take in 487.5g of protein a day.

i use the 1g per lb of BW and it has served me well with no shortage of muscle gains

[Cuchulain82]

5g/kg is ridiculous, but it's what Berardi said. He usually knows his stuff, and he wasn't talking about the elite athelets. He meant people who were training, generally. I heard it on one of the interviews that are posted on the precision nutrition resources page. FYI- I'm not endorsing the 5g/kg theory- it's about twice as much as I've ever been able to maintain. The point is that there is no absolute answer for the question of "how much protein..."- experiment and see how your body responds.

[Incredible Bulk]

i'd be crapping brown water on the 5g/lb

you'd have to drink 5 shakes to get a good 250g, that still leaves 230g by food.

i love my kidneys, i wouldnt put them under such stress...talk about toxic urea

[Mehrad]

I agree, 5 is way too much! I use to eat alot of protein and let me tell you this..I felt sorry for my kidneys! You might get bloated or just really sharp kidney pains, your body may be forgiving but give it a rest! :)

I think the good ol' calculation of 0.8 x how much you weigh in pounds will give you a good idea of how much you should have ;)

[Ad McG]

bright yellow is usually down to vit B

5g per kg is hugely excessive, i would have to take in 487.5g of protein a day.

i use the 1g per lb of BW and it has served me well with no shortage of muscle gains

I'm pretty sure he means kilo of LEAN body mass ie. not including fat mass which is probably rather more conservative and achievable.