The Importance Of Protein
Often called 'the building blocks of life', protein is one of three key macronutrients (the main nutrients found in food) alongside carbohydrates and fats. Made up of 20 amino acids, some of these can be made by the body, while others are essential and we can only obtain them through our diet.
Why is protein important?
When you eat protein, your digestive system breaks it down and transports it around your body to help with growth, maintenance and repair for everything including muscles, hair, skin organs and nails. The proteins of the body are constantly being broken down and resynthesised.
In the context of fitness, it's important because when you exercise you build muscle so your body needs extra protein for this task. This is why protein supplements are so popular in the health and fitness industry.
Where do I get protein?
Most foods are made up of a combination of nutrients. When we talk about protein-rich foods, they contain a lot of protein but there will typically be other nutrients included as well. For example, milk is considered a protein-rich food but it also contains lactose (milk sugar which is a carbohydrate) as well as fat.
You can get protein from both animal and plant sources - some protein-rich foods include lean meat, poultry, fish, cereals, eggs, dairy foods such as cheese and yoghurt, tofu, legumes and lentils, nuts and seeds.
The Ministry of Health Eating and Activity Guidelines for Adult Health recommends to limit intake of red meat and processed meats.
How much protein should I be having?
This tends to vary between trainers and nutrition advisors from 0.6 grams of protein per kilo of bodyweight to as much as 2 grams per kilo of bodyweight for athletes. However, the Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) for protein is:
- Women | 19-70 yrs, 46 g/day (0.75 g/kg)
- Men | 19-70 yrs, 64 g/day (0.84 g/kg)
Some people need more protein, including growing teenagers, pregnant or breastfeeding women, people with certain illnesses or conditions, and athletes or individuals doing a lot of exercise.
Protein contains 4 calories per gram (compared to 4 cal/g in carbohydrates and 9 cal/g in fats) and lean protein-rich foods help you feel full and satisfied so if you have a fat loss goal it's a good idea to focus on including these foods in your diet.
It's important to remember that just because steak is rich in protein doesn't mean that the whole steak is protein (i.e. there's other components such as water and fat as well) so a 100 gram steak doesn't equal 100 grams of protein.
To avoid having to weigh your food, we would recommend using your hand as a reference for portion sizes. For protein this is approximately the size of the palm of your hand. Women need around 3-4 serves per day, while men need around 6-8 serves per day.
Do I need protein supplements?
If you're getting enough protein in your regular everyday diet, you don't really need protein supplements. However, they can be a great pre or post workout snack if you like them. Recommendations for how much protein you need each day vary, however,
Not all protein supplements are created equally. If you're thinking about incorporating them into your diet, read the nutrition label and check how much protein per serve you will get as products vary in the 'fillers' that are included. Some - typically cheaper - protein supplements include more carbohydrate which may not be ideal if you're trying to reduce body fat, but may be useful if you are doing long training sessions as they will also provide energy.
If you're pregnant or breastfeeding, check that the protein supplement you're considering is safe for use. It's typically best to avoid supplements with fat burners (thermogenics) added.
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