Protein Quality and Quantity Matter Most

Protein quality and Quantity Matter Most

Protein Quality

The quality of your protein is defined by the proportion of essential amino acids it contains per 100g.

The greater proportion of essential amino acids, the more effective it will be for muscle building but also for creating proteins essential for the body to thrive.

The definition of essential amino acids are those amino acids that can’t be manufactured by the body and need to be consumed.

The highest quality protein sources are meat sources such as beef, chicken, pork, lamb and fish. These sources contain the highest proportion of essential amino acids.

Also of high quality are your sources such as eggs and milk and also protein powders based around egg whites, whey protein casein. The whey and casein proteins are milk based protein.

Of course that doesn’t mean that vegetable sources such as legumes and nuts can’t be consumed in variety to supply enough of all the essential amino acids.

It does mean that one source won’t supply enough of all your essential amino acids.

For vegetarians and vegans it may also be necessary to supplement protein when gaining muscle is your goal. There are quite a number of high quality vegan protein powders on the market based around pea and soy proteins.

Quantity of Protein

How much protein we need is an interesting question and one that continues to be debated. I believe that it is always going to be based on body mass, goals and physical activity.

The amount of protein you need to consume can vary from around 1.5g of protein per lean kilogram per day up to 2.5g of protein per lean kilogram per day.

The reason we use lean body mass to calculate the amount of protein per day is that a person who is morbidly obese will not need to consume 2.5g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

How you calculate lean mass is up to you. It can also be estimated based on average BMI. It doesn’t have to be an exact measurement as long as it’s consistent.

Timing and frequency

Protein Quality and quantity are the most essential part of creating an appropriate diet but frequency and amount per meal are also important factors to consider.

I follow a rule of protein every 4 hours and about 3 to 5 serves per day. With 5 being optimal and 3 being minimal.

The amount per meal will depend on how much protein you have calculated per day and how many meals.

If you have calculated that you need 200g per day and you are planning on having 5 meals per day. That means that each meal would contain about 40g of protein per meal.

How do we know how much protein we have per meal?

In this current day and age there are many apps that allow you to calculate all your macronutrients and calories.

In fact I calculate the macronutrients for all my clients and help them put together an eating plan using an App that allows them to track their food intake.

Conclusion

Of primary importance to a nutrition plan is protein quality and quantity.

Of secondary importance is the frequency and amount per meal. Anywhere from 3 to 5 meals per day with total protein divided into a rough amount per meal.

We need somewhere between 1.5 to 2.5g of protein per kilo of lean body mass.

If you have any questions please pm me on this page or my website.