Friday Reading Report: Protein

Americans, in general, are obsessed about protein.  Someone we know or love or both, like a friend or kid, goes vegetarian, and we freak out—but how will they get enough protein???

Here’s the deal:  unless you or someone you know happens to be food insecure (i.e., unlikely to get enough food to prevent malnutrition/starving), the odds are very very slim that daily protein needs are not going to be met.

Don’t believe me?  Here is some math to compute Recommended Daily Allowance.  Keep in mind that the RDA is intended to meet the needs of most people, meaning that many of us don’t need even the full RDA.  The RDA for adults ages 19 to 50 is .8 g of protein per kg of body weight.  The average American, according to the internet, weighs 80.7 kg (177.54 pounds).  That Average Jane/Joe would need 64.56 g of protein per day.  If she/they/he is in fact average for an American, actual protein intake is about 100 g per day, or well over the requirement.

What if Jane/Joe is a child?  She/they/he does need slightly more grams of protein per kg of body weight (1.52 g/kg for infants to 6 months old, 1.5 g/kg for babies up to 12 months, 1.1 g/kg for toddlers 1-3 years old, .95 for children 4 to 13, and .85 for teens 14 to 18).  Still, this goal is totally manageable and almost always surpassed by Americans who have sufficient food at all.

If Jane/Joe is an athlete, she/they/he probably still doesn’t need to increase protein intake.  Muscle activity is first fueled by glucose and fatty acids.  Protein is essential for rebuilding the exercise-damaged tissues in their new, stronger iterations after weight work, but again, the overages built into what we already eat take care of any additional needs.  Specifically supplementing for protein often just results in too many calories, which turn into fat, which in turn impedes performance.

The deal is the same if Jane/Joe is pregnant or lactating.  Usual intake covers additional needs.

If Jane/Joe is a vegetarian, the impact on her/their/his protein intake depends on what kind of vegetarian.  Lacto-ovo vegetarians can relax, as can the tofu-lovers:  animal sources of protein and soy are complete proteins.  Vegans have to do a tiny bit more thinking because it’s not enough just to have protein; we need to ensure that we get all the essential amino acids our bodies can’t make.  Plant sources of protein, except for soy, don’t have them all in a single source, so vegans have to choose complementary protein sources (i.e., two or more protein sources that between them contain all the essential amino acids).  The good news is that this isn’t hard.  Remember our friends rice and beans?  They have an important message for us:  combine a grain with a legume and get complete protein.  That means peanut butter on bread works.  Lentil soup with crackers, beans and tortillas, pasta with beans, rice and black-eyed peas, and garbanzos with sesame paste (hey, I call that hummus, myself!) all work.

There is some evidence that older adults (those of us who have passed that half-century mark) can benefit from a slightly higher protein intake (about 1.5 g/kg of body weight) to improve muscle mass, strength, and function, boost immunity, wound healing, and bone health.  The theory is that we are less efficient at digesting and absorbing protein as we age, so we need more to work with.  Again, Jane/Joe probably doesn’t have to worry or even strive to meet that goal.

So yes, we need protein, but no, we don’t need to worry about getting enough unless we are vegans or people with general food insecurity.