The 50-gram myth: making sure you get enough protein

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Good morning, 66.1ers.

Overview

• Revisiting the topic of protein consumption (it’s important!)

• Crowdsourcing tips on how to add protein to your diet

• Add your wisdom in the comments below today’s post

• If you missed the deep dive on protein a couple months ago, read it here

Housekeeping

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Food for thought

The US FDA recommends you eat 50 grams of protein per day. Studies have shown, however, that higher protein consumption leads to better health outcomes.

This visual from Tagawa and colleagues (from this study) leaves us with plenty of actionable information.

Note that the x-axis is grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

First, LBM (lean body mass) actually decreases if you consume less than 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.

Second, the additional benefit gleaned from consuming additional protein decreases around 1.3 g/kg of body weight.

Remember the FDA recommendation of 50 grams per day? For a 170-pound (77 kg) adult, that’s just 0.65 g of protein per kg of body weight. Looking at the chart above, this is a recipe for losing lean body mass.

We don’t want that.

The short of it is this: if you’re consuming less than 1 gram of protein per kilogram of bodyweight, you really need to increase your protein intake. If you’re above this threshold, good job. Now it’s time to play offense and find a level of protein consumption at which you feel healthy.

Drop it in the comments

What’s one way you add protein to your diet to make sure you’re above 1g/kg to maintain (or even gain!) lean body mass?

Add your answer to the comments below this post so we can learn from each other. I’ll pull together the top responses and include them in a future issue of 66.1.

Workout of the week

Dive bomber push-ups

This one first made the rounds a couple months ago, but a video will help.

(PS keep an eye on the new page “30 workouts you can do anywhere” for additional exercise videos in the coming weeks)

3 rounds of 10:

-Start in a normal push-up position

-Elevate your butt so you’re in a “down dog” type position

-Bend your elbows so they’re just off the ground

-Slide your head through, pushing up with your shoulders at the same time

-Look up at the sky (this should feel great on your neck, hips, and abdominal muscles)

-Return to the down dog position

Or follow along here:

That’s all for this Wednesday.See you on Saturday.Have fun out there.Marcus