Protein: how much do you actually need? (spoiler: probably more)
Getting real tired of the mainstream nutrition advice telling everyone to eat 0.36g of protein per pound of bodyweight. That's the RDA — the MINIMUM to not be deficient. It's like saying the minimum amount of sleep to not die is 4 hours, so that's the recommendation.
If you're active at ALL, here's what the actual sports nutrition research says:
- Maintaining muscle: 0.7-0.8g per lb bodyweight
- Building muscle: 0.8-1.0g per lb bodyweight
- Losing fat while preserving muscle: 1.0-1.2g per lb bodyweight
- On GLP-1 meds: 1.0g+ per lb, non-negotiable
For a 200 lb guy, that's 160-240g of protein per day. Yes, it's a lot. Yes, it requires planning. No, it won't damage your kidneys (please stop spreading that myth — it's been debunked repeatedly in healthy individuals).
Quick protein math: chicken breast is about 31g per 4oz, eggs are 6g each, greek yogurt is 15-20g per cup. Start tracking for a week and you'll see where you actually land. Most guys are shocked at how low they are.
Marcus is right on this one. The kidney myth comes from a misunderstanding of studies on people with PRE-EXISTING kidney disease. In healthy adults, high protein intake has not been shown to cause kidney damage in any well-designed study I'm aware of.
That said — if you DO have kidney issues, talk to your doctor before increasing protein. And staying hydrated is important when eating high protein. Your kidneys have more nitrogen to excrete, so they need adequate water to do that efficiently.
This was a huge wake-up call for me when I started taking nutrition seriously. I was eating maybe 80g of protein a day as a 210 lb guy. No wonder I wasn't recovering from my workouts and felt like garbage.
Bumped it to 180g and the difference in like 3 weeks was noticable. Better sleep, less sore, actually gaining strength again. It's crazy how much of "feeling old" is actually just poor nutrition.
Ok question from a non-gym-bro: does this apply to women too? I'm 135 lbs and I know I'm not eating enough protein. Trying to balance meal planning for the whole family and honestly most of our meals are carb-heavy because the kids will actually eat pasta and rice lol.
Sarah — absolutely applies to women too! Same ranges work. At 135 lbs you'd want roughly 95-135g depending on your activity level. Totally doable.
Family meal hack: make the same base meal but add protein on top. Pasta night? Add grilled chicken. Rice bowls? Ground turkey or shrimp. The kids still get their carbs, you get your protein. My clients who are parents all struggle with this and that's the simplest fix I've found.