I know that eating the right amount of protein is essential. I’ve been operating under the assumption that I should be aiming for about 50g/day. However, I just read the recent blog post someone shared, that detailed Volek & Phinney’s advice. And from what I can tell, it looks like according to that recommendation (1.5g per kg), I should be eating closer to 80g. Is there anyone who would be willing to share their insight on this matter? Even if someone who knows a lot about this topic could give me an estimate as to the number of grams per day I should aim for, I would greatly appreciate it because I am so unsure… I do not know my lean body mass unfortunately. I am a female, 5’2" and weigh 119 lbs. Thanks in advance fore any insight you may be able to share!
Can anyone help me calculate how much protein I need?
The estimates for protein that I’ve seen are from 0.8 to 1.5 grams per kg of LEAN body mass. You’ll need to estimate your body fat percentage to find this out. An easy way to estimate this is to go to a website with pictures of women (and men) with different body fat percentages and find the picture which best matches you. You could also pay money and have body fat measured by BodPod or Dexa scan, but those cost money.
Once you’ve figured out your lean mass, you might need to experiment a little to see what is the best protein amount for you. My understanding is that people who are more insulin resistant are probably going to control their insulin spikes better (and presumably lose weight better) on the lower end of that 0.8 to 1.5 gram range. If you are more insulin sensitive, you would probably have more flexibility within than range and could eat more protein if you wanted and still have a good result.
Oh. Also, iif you are more sedentary you would probably fall on the low side of the 0.8 to 1.5 range. And if you are an athlete, you be more likely to fall on the high end.
Dr. Jason Fung recommends 0.6 grams of protein per kilogram of your ideal weight per day. I hope this helps!
It’s not nearly as essential as you think it is. You need some for sure, and going over won’t kill you. Going waaaaay over isn’t good, going waaaaay under isn’t good. More than likely, whatever you were eating before is about what you need,