All About Protein Requirements

A few years ago it seemed like the nutrition industry was abuzz about protein, but lately the headlines have been stolen by the other macronutrients: fats and carbohydrates. Meeting daily protein requirements is incredibly important for both health and performance, but before diving into protein, let’s touch base quickly on the latest for carbs and fats:

Carbs: Sugar is still bad for you. Low-carb is all the rage and can be healthful, but genetics and lifestyle factors make this different for everyone.

Fats: Increase your Omega-3 intake through oceanic food sources while decreasing your Omega-6 intake by limiting processed foods and vegetable oils.

I’ll elaborate more on these two macronutrients soon as well, so keep your eyes peeled on HuffPost Canada over the next few weeks!

All About Protein Requirements

Protein is incredibly important. The human body is made of protein. Not just your muscles but your skin, hair, blood, bone and nearly every tissue of the body is composed of amino acids. The amino acid pool of the human body is constantly being turned over (every second of the day) so dietary protein requirements never fluctuate: protein is always in need.

For years it was blindly accepted that too much protein was bad for health and that only bodybuilders needed to worry about this part of the diet. For the fitness crowd, it’s also been generally accepted that you need to crush a protein shake after every workout in order to avoid losing gains. Well folks, the research is out and let’s discuss where things stand.

What We’ve Debunked

Protein is required for optimal health and there’s really no such thing as too much. Humans turnover between 300-400g of protein daily, so unless you’re exceeding this amount you can be confident that your protein intake isn’t harming your health (kidneys rejoice). Go the other direction however, and health can suffer.

Read the entire article at The Huffington Post: So How Much Protein Do You Really Need? | Dain Wallis