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2002/06/16, 06:38 PM
This is an article that was emailed to me. I want to appologize for the lengthy post, but its worth reading. This applies to EVERYONE on FT, but I think those that consider too much protein bad on the kidneys should pay special attention to this.
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"Do You Really Need More Protein?"
by Dave Ramirez
Lately, high protein diets and high protein supplements have become extremely popular among athletes, celebrities, and lay people alike. Bookstores and newsstands stock scores of diet books espousing high protein diets, for they are among their best sellers. Likewise, you can’t walk into any busy gym or health food store without finding a respectable selection of protein bars, protein powders, and protein drinks for sale.
High protein diets have become popular for one reason: They work.
Lean, muscular athletes such as bodybuilders, fitness models, gymnasts, and sprinters all stay lean with high protein diets, NOT with the typical American diet which is high in starch, sugars, and fat while low in protein, nor with the low protein/high carb diets recommended by typical dietitians and nutritionists.
These classically educated, "expert" dietitians and nutritionists who espouse the traditional American diet (low protein/high carbohydrate) are having a difficult time developing solutions to the problem they helped create in the first place:
According to the Surgeon General, at least 61% of Americans are overweight or obese. Obesity among adults has doubled since 1980, while overweight among adolescents has tripled. Approximately 300,000 U.S. deaths a year currently are associated with obesity and overweight (compared to more than 400,000 deaths a year associated with cigarette smoking). The total direct and indirect costs attributed to overweight and obesity amounted to $117 billion in the year 2000. So, it’s not surprising that many Americans have been turning to alternative dietary approaches.
More and more average Americans are discovering what athletes have known for a long time: that high protein diets work. Despite the scores of lean, muscular, AND healthy high protein dieters walking around, you will always encounter unenlightened individuals who try to tell you how "bad" high protein diets are for you. Most of these people mean well, but simply draw their conclusions based more on common myths than on scientific research or first-hand experience.
Before you can fully appreciate the proven benefits of a high protein diet, you should be aware of the myths often associated with high protein diets.
Protein Myths
MYTH #1: High Protein Diets Are Bad For Your Kidneys
FACT: High Protein Diets Are NOT Bad For Your Kidneys
You may have heard this myth before. Its basis lies in the fact that people with renal disorders (impaired kidneys) are often placed on low protein diets. This is because their kidneys have a difficult time filtering many substances, including nutrients and urea-an end product of protein metabolism. Ironically, what most people don’t know is that people with ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease) who undergo weekly dialysis treatments for the rest of their lives, are often put on high (not low) protein diets by their renal dietitians.
Nonetheless, many people believe that because people with impaired kidneys are told to avoid high protein foods, then high protein foods must cause bad kidneys, or so the myth goes. This logic is about as backwards as saying: people who suffer from impaired muscle function should not lift heavy weights; therefore, lifting heavy weights causes impaired muscle function. Seems crazy, right? Well, it’s the same flawed logic.
Not only is this common myth illogical, but also unsupported by science. Interestingly, the science shows quite the opposite…that high protein diets have NO adverse effect on kidney function in healthy people.
A recent study done at the University of Brussels, Belgium examined the effects of high protein diets on trained athletes (bodybuilders).1 The data revealed that despite higher plasma concentration of uric acid and calcium, the bodybuilders had renal clearances of creatinine, urea, and albumin that were within the normal range. The nitrogen balance for the bodybuilders became positive when daily protein intake exceeded 1.26 g /kg bodyweight; but there were no correlations between protein intake and creatinine clearance, albumin excretion rate, and calcium excretion rate. The scientists concluded that protein intakes as high as 2.8 g /kg bodyweight do not impair renal function in well-trained athletes as indicated by the measures of renal function used in this study.
So, according to this study, an athlete can safely consume as much as 2.8 grams of protein per kilo of bodyweight or 1.27 grams per pound of bodyweight. This means that a 200 lb man can consume up to 255 grams of protein per day without fear of overly stressing his kidneys.
Despite the evidence, skeptics may ask, "could this just be one isolated study?" The answer is a resounding "no." Dozens of studies exist on the safety of and need for high protein diets in healthy, hard training athletes. Skeptics can look up the research of M.A. Tarnopolsky or Peter Lemon, two world-renowned university researchers who have dedicated much of their lives to discovering the true dietary needs of athletes. Peter Lemon, in particular, is a true pioneer in this area; his work is a must-read for any serious athlete.
MYTH #2: You Don’t Need Extra Protein; Consuming The RDA For Protein More Than Satisfies Your Dietary Requirements.
FACT: You Will Never Build a Head-Turning Physique By Consuming Only The RDA For Protein
Proponents of this myth will tell you that the U.S. RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) for protein already takes into account your body’s needs for protein, including any upper limits.
This sounds convincing, but the sad reality is that the RDAs for protein are entirely inadequate if you workout. The RDA for protein for an adult is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day - the equivalent of 0.36 grams per pound of body weight per day. Based on the RDA, a 200 lb bodybuilder would require just 73 grams of protein a day. Unfortunately, such a low amount of protein per day is not conducive to muscle growth. As the recent Brussels study demonstrated, the nitrogen balance for the test subjects did not become positive until their daily protein intake exceeded 1.26 g /kg bodyweight or, in other words, until a 200 lb bodybuilder consumed at least 115 grams of protein per day...that’s at least 36% more protein than the RDA claims is required! Remember, you can’t pack on muscle and get that lean, muscular look you’ve always wanted if you are not in a positive nitrogen balance.
Additionally, it might help to have a little background on the ever popular, but grossly outdated RDAs.
The RDAs for nutrients were set by a government appointed body, The National Research Council, in 1943…a time when black and white televisions were popular and the U.S. was fighting Hitler in Germany in WWII. Although many scientific breakthroughs in research and nutritional science have surfaced in the last 60 years, the RDAs for protein remain the same. The RDAs were set for a very general population of average Americans—not athletes. However, average Americans back then were sedentary. Average Americans today are sedentary, sick, and obese. Remember, according to the Surgeon General "at least 61% of Americans are overweight or obese."
Despite the antiquated guidelines of the National Research Council, science is confirming what bodybuilders have been claiming all along: That athletes and bodybuilders need more protein, a lot more.
Even in conventional scientific circles most experts now agree that strength athletes and bodybuilders should have a daily dietary protein intake of about 1.2g of protein/lb of bodyweight.4,5 That’s a whopping 225% of the current RDA. So, the RDAs have effectively become the fictitious guidelines that unenlightened "experts" appeal to when they tell us what we "need" nutritionally—no matter how hard we train.
MYTH #3: You Can’t Absorb More Than 30 Grams of Protein Per Meal.
FACT: That All Depends On Many Variables.
Most everyone has heard this one before. Its origins are unknown. Interestingly, the only people who will ever tell you this are those who have never been in good enough shape to ever see their own abdominals. People who are in great shape routinely consume over 30 grams of protein at every meal.
Perhaps, the greatest flaw of this myth lies in the fact that it assumes everyone has the same nutritional needs despite a variety of circumstances that affect protein absorption and utilization by the body. For example:
Activity Levels—People who workout intensely need more protein than their sedentary counterparts.
Health—A healthy person with a healthy digestive tract will be able to absorb more protein per meal than a person with digestive problems.
Timing—A post-workout high protein meal will more likely be absorbed than one you have minutes before going to sleep at night.
Quality—Protein quality will depend greatly on how your body absorbs the protein. Complete proteins, like chicken, meat, fish, and milk, that contain all essential amino acids will be better used by the body than ones that lack essential aminos. This is because they are more bioavailable.
Preparation—A protein that has been minimally exposed to prolonged heat will be digested and absorbed more easily than one that has been deep-fried and overcooked, thereby denaturing the protein.
Bodyweight—A heavily muscled 300 lb man will absorb more protein per meal than a thin 130 lb man.
Age—A growing teenager may require extra protein; an inactive senior citizen may require less.
So, ignore the nonsense about how much protein you can absorb per meal and stick to the guidelines that have been time-tested and proven both in the real world—by successful bodybuilders and athletes—and in the laboratory by countless researchers: consume at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight spaced out over 5 or 6 small meals per day. Therefore, a 200 lb man would consume at least 200 grams of protein per day or 33-40 grams of protein per meal. A 200 lb test subject in the Brussels study would have consumed 43-51 grams per meal, as this was the amount consumed AND absorbed with no adverse effects.
Now that we’ve debunked some of the most common myths about high protein diets, you understand the need for a high protein diet. However, you may be wondering what the best source of protein is to help you reach your goals? You can get your daily protein from all kinds of foods such as fish, chicken, beef, eggs, and milk. However, as science and experience would have it, your optimal choice for protein immediately following a workout is whey protein. This is because whey protein provides a full spectrum of essential amino acids that your body and muscles absorb very rapidly - exactly what you need during that post workout window of opportunity when your body has been trained hard and is now craving protein - protein it must have quickly or it will begin tearing down muscle tissue to get it.
For all other times, a protein with a time-release effect is optimal for keeping your muscles nourished with a sustained stream of anti-catabolic/anabolic amino acids. You can get this time-release effect by consuming whole protein foods like fish, chicken, beef, or egg whites with a little bit of carbohydrate or fat. Or, more conveniently, you can use a multi-blend protein formula such as that provide all the nutrients, taste, convenience, and time-release effect you need for optimal muscle support.
The Bottom Line
America has been eating according to the "experts." But, guess what? The experts are wrong…obesity and its diet-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke are running rampant in the U.S. We are the fattest country on the planet and getting fatter. People’s diets and lifestyles must change. The answer for most would be adopting a sensible work out routine along with a high protein diet. If we all worked out hard and consumed high protein diets, Americans would look like bodybuilders and fitness models…lean, mean, tone and with washboard abs.
So, assuming you are unlike most sedentary Americans and you are training hard, your body definitely requires lots of protein. We recommend at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight. Therefore, a 200 lb man would need 200 grams of protein per day…preferably divided into 5 or 6 small meals eaten every 2 to 3 hours. Consuming 5 or 6 small meals per day is easier than you think (it just requires a little effort and repetition until it becomes a habit). Just consume one MRP shake in between breakfast and lunch and another one in between lunch and dinner. If you start your day early enough, you’ll be able to squeeze in another shake right before bedtime. Getting your daily protein has never been easier.
Assuming your training is sufficiently challenging to your muscles and assuming you’re giving them enough time to rest between workouts, your smartest move would be to supplement with a high quality whey protein shake, like Labrada Carb Watchers ProPlete for your post workout meal and use two packets of an MRP per day to supplement your other meals.
In addition to a sound diet, this is the best way to ensure that your body has all the nutrients it needs for optimal recuperation and muscle growth.
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--JBennett
"I've up-ed my intensity.... now up yours!"
"Pain is only weakness leaving the body."
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