I’m confused about protein… 🫤

C

cdlara381

New member
There are a few vegan fitness influencers I follow and some of them say: “Go ahead use protein powders and mock meats to get extra protein”

And some say: “you only really need healthy whole foods, and you get enough protein by eating enough”

I’m confused about the amount I really need for building muscle and/or maintaining it. Is 1.2g of protein per kg enough or can I go even lower than that?

I’m 84kg at the moment and I want to go down to 70kg and what I do is I calculate my protein amount by my goal weight which is 70kg (70x1.2g = 84g)

Is 1.2g enough protein per kg of GOAL WEIGHT?

Is it ok to just have your protein from whole foods when training?

Do you think protein powder is necessary when trying to build muscle (or maintain it)?
 
@cdlara381 I personally was not able to succeed at weight loss until i focused on protein and added powder or bars. I do 120g per day now and I'm down 45 lbs, and I lift weights 3x weekly in addition to my daily cardio.
 
@ashley101 Hmm… this question is bothering me especially today coz I was about to buy some protein powder today but then this morning I saw a video of a guy saying just eat whole foods and he is super fit too… idk maybe I can stick to that 85-100g of protein a day and go from there, see how it affects me.
 
@cdlara381 Everyone is different so find what works for you. I really like using TVP and also the Daring brand chicken.

If you want some good suggestions on picking proteins I really like coachscottyb_ and korinsutton. I'm a woman and I still follow their advice on protein even though they're big dudes.
 
@cdlara381 There's some evidence that protein is even more important to, and more efficacious in, weight loss than muscle gain.

You probably can drop your protein to 70 and not suffer any particular ill effects, but it will likely make it harder to achieve the weight loss you intend.
 
@dawn16 Really is that so?
Well I mean I don’t mind eating more protein I was just thinking, will I be eating a lot of protein for nothing. And I just don’t wanna stress about it, I wanna eat some mock meats sometimes and even protein powder.
 
@cdlara381 Yeah it is! Or at least to the best of our current knowledge; nutrition research is notoriously difficult to get good quality evidence from, so most of our beliefs about it should be with fairly low confidence. But yeah, the evidence we have suggests that protein intake is quite important for weight loss.

I don't think you have to stress about it, especially if you are on track with your goals etc., but it will likely be helpful to aim for a bit higher than 70.
 
@cdlara381 It's not really a black and white cutoff.

The commonly cited value is 1.6g/kg based on Morton et al meta-analysis, but it's not gonna kill your gains to go a couple points below that. If 1.2g/kg is more convenient for you and you're not super concerned with aiming for optimality, then you can stay at that amount.

Whether your protein comes from "whole foods" or protein powders isn't really relevant nutritionally. Protein powder isn't necessary, but only choosing whole foods isn't necessary either. Just choose whichever is more convenient for you in terms of effort, cost, taste, calorie budget, etc.
 
@cdlara381 You can get all your protein from whole foods if you focus on it, but I think you usually need more than 1.2g per kg if it's plant protein. Tempeh is my favorite high protein food, but tbh more than depending on highly concentrated protein, I think it helps to just switch a lot of everyday foods for slightly higher protein alternatives. Look at the protein content of different breads, maybe the one you normally use is 100 cal and 3g protein per slice. Switch it out for one that's 80 cal and 4g of protein per slice. It's not much of a difference, but the small changes all add up.

Somewhere between a whole food and a supplement, I also suggest powdered peanut butter, it's pretty protein dense and you can add it to a bunch of things.
 
@cdlara381 There's definitely no reason not to, just stay under around 2g and you shouldn't have to worry about negative side effects or anything. I guess the way I've been seeing it is, the higher the better as long as it stays under that safe limit.
 
@cdlara381 I’d say minimum 1.6 g per kg, and make sure it’s good quality, like tofu, legumes (combined with some grains/rice/nuts), or mock meats (they’re healthier than their real counterpart), and protein shakes definitely help too.

Being plant based I find it quite hard to reach my goal tho, which is 2 g per kg, for me 140 g, without protein supplements or eating a lot of volume.
 
@dawn16 Minimum 1.6g 😮 it’s just a lot of calories so I guesss I’d have to rely on protein powders too and making sure I choose the protein rich versions of grains and veggies.. but I think I’m not gonna be frantic about it coz then it gets too mentally taxing, my main priority is to lose body fat ☺️
 
@cdlara381 Grains are pretty poor in protein tho, perhaps quinoa is somewhat decent, but they’re not very protein : calorie ratio friendly unfortunately. Try focus on tofu and legumes, they’re way better ratio wise. Best of luck to you!
 
@cdlara381 No you can eat grains, but it shouldn’t be your main protein source. Best sources are soy based foods like tofu, tempeh and soymeats, since they contain all essential amino acids and are high in protein. Quinoa is again probably the best grain due to its complete protein content. I’d limit my grain intake, though I don’t really consume grains at all ATM, since I’m also cutting, and I’m not particularly worried about minerals since I’ve been supplementing.
 
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