Daily Requirements for Protein

[luv2bike]

I was curious about the daily requirements that the body needs for protein and I came across the article below. I thought it was pretty good and wanted to share it here.

http://www.exrx.net/Nutrition/Protein.html

According to this web site, females should get 40 grams per day. Males should get 55-70 grams. Or 12% to 20% of the total calories should come from protein. Here are some other tidbits in addition to those numbers;

• Increases slightly during an increase or change of training
• Surprisingly greater protein requirements for endurance athletes than weight trained athletes
• Protein requirements increase when calories are insufficient

So, how do you keep track of your daily protein? I use fitday.com to track all sorts of diet info. It's more than just for tracking calories, which South Beach doesn't require you to do. But I like to use it for tracking my daily nutritional info and such.

[Sadie147]

Originally Posted by luv2bike

I was curious about the daily requirements that the body needs for protein and I came across the article below. I thought it was pretty good and wanted to share it here.

http://www.exrx.net/Nutrition/Protein.html

According to this web site, females should get 40 grams per day. Males should get 55-70 grams. Or 12% to 20% of the total calories should come from protein. Here are some other tidbits in addition to those numbers;

• Increases slightly during an increase or change of training
• Surprisingly greater protein requirements for endurance athletes than weight trained athletes
• Protein requirements increase when calories are insufficient

So, how do you keep track of your daily protein? I use fitday.com to track all sorts of diet info. It's more than just for tracking calories, which South Beach doesn't require you to do. But I like to use it for tracking my daily nutritional info and such.

Hmmmm that's interesting. I think 40g's a day is very low? I have seen that usually it's 1g per pound for the average exerciser and 1.3g per lb for endurance athletes.

I'll have to look into that more. I try to keep mine around 100gs a day if i can.

Hmmm i just looked and it seems i'm high (well my protein amounts are haha). I'm not sure how i can even adjust that? if i can only haven one grain a day, and have to keep my fats down, i think i wont be eating nearly enough? my protein right now is at 30% and i'm having one grain a day.

[luv2bike]

Originally Posted by Sadie147

Hmmm i just looked and it seems i'm high (well my protein amounts are haha).

Not to worry. I was just posting it for people who perhaps aren't getting enough protein ...... especially if they're exercising more. There are some vegetarians following the South Beach Diet and this info might be more helpful to them. Perhaps I should have posted it in that forum.

I don't think it's harmful for a person to get more protein than they need, unless you have kidney problems.

Btw, the 40 grams per day minimum for females is for a sedentary lifestyle. Exercise, especially endurance exercise, would require more protein.

[Sadie147]

Originally Posted by luv2bike

Not to worry. I was just posting it for people who perhaps aren't getting enough protein ...... especially if they're exercising more. There are some vegetarians following the South Beach Diet and this info might be more helpful to them. Perhaps I should have posted it in that forum.

I don't think it's harmful for a person to get more protein than they need, unless you have kidney problems.

Btw, the 40 grams per day minimum for females is for a sedentary lifestyle. Exercise, especially endurance exercise, would require more protein.

Thanks for your input luv2, Last night I was kinda worried about it, But i think if i keep it at around 100 or lower i should be ok, but it also made me realize that what I think is really low, ie 70gs isn't really low at all! I'd always kept an eye on my protein on Atkins, I found some days it was really high (ie 150g's), which I know can lead to weight gain too. It can be very easy to go overboard.

It's a good excuse I guess for me to eat more veggies