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Protein consists of amino acids which are the building blocks of the muscle tissue. As a result, you need protein in order to build muscles. This is not new information and the importance of the muscle is very clear (see 10X article). But most people do not know how much protein they consume, what is the purpose of consuming this amount and what are the best sources. These things are important and let's make some order here.
Protein is required for muscle building.
A healthy person maintaining muscle mass needs a certain amount of protein in the diet (1.6 g/kg of body weight).
The source of protein is important to provide all the necessary building blocks.
It is recommended not to consume sweets that contain added protein and are marketed as healthy, check the ingredients on the back. You can make such snacks at home yourself.
A combination of sugar and protein (glycated proteins) is a measure of diabetes.
Michael D Roberts et al 2018
A healthy person who exercises regularly should, to be sure they build muscle, consume about 1.6 g of protein/kg body weight/day. That is, to build muscle without fear of loosing any, a person weighing 75 kg would need to eat 120 g of protein/day . If you want to know exactly how much protein you need, you can measure the weight of your muscle tissue (using a DEXA test or other body scans) and multiply this number by 2. So if that person has 55 kg of muscle, he should consume 110 grams of protein a day. These numbers are of course based on an average basis in the population. There are people who will need more protein in order to build muscle (non responders) and there are those who will need less (super responders). There are also those who are at the edges and increase muscle mass relatively easily and those who find it very difficult to increase muscle mass regardless of the amount of protein. This depends on internal factors such as the ability to increase the amount of ribosomes (the protein that translates proteins) after resistance training (1). In addition, daily consumption is not 100% correct for everyone, but a recommendation.
What are our protein sources?
Plant based
Plant protein comes from everything that grows. High amounts are found mainly in legumes and lentils such as: peas, soybeans, chickpeas and others. However, the amounts of protein there are not high enuogh to provide a person who trains, that is why there are products that concentrate the amount of protein from plants such as tofu and others. Nevertheless, it is still not the complete protein because some of the amino acids that are essential to us (and are found in animal products) are not found in plants, Lysine for example. This too has a solution today and they are added to foods which is grown in bacteria. The advantage of plant-based protein is that it comes without any additives from animals such as cholesterol-containing fat, but it also lacks vitamins that are found in animals and that we need, such as vitamin B12.
Highlights:
1. Soy products, wheat and others, check the amount of protein and adjust it to your need and look for any unfamiliar substances in the ingredients.
2. Prefer fresh or fast-freeze sources for the legumes you consume.
3. Examine which legumes your body handles well and which ones you don't. Some people will have a harder time digesting beans and chickpeas for example but they will have no problem with lentils. So check after a meal how it affects your digestion (swelling, heaviness, etc.).
4. Legumes have many good fat-soluble substances, so it is recommended to eat them in combination with a little cold-pressed oil (olive/avocado/coconut oil) or some tahini, for example, to add a fatty component. It's also much more satiating.
Animal protein
The simplest way to consume protein that has all the amino acids. It is recommended to eat animals that were raised in the best possible conditions (grass-fed in a pasture and not grain-fed in a pen) and if there was hunting meat in the country it would be the best. If you don't have the funds, it is better to eat the less fatty parts (chicken breast and lean parts of the cow) because the fat tissue contains a concentration of all the drugs and inflammatory factors fed to the animal. Fish from direct fishing are recommended and not those raised for food (unless in good living conditions). Canned tuna is a good solution, but without oils that oxidize during the cans sterilization process (any oil, especially olive oil!). So buy only tuna in water and add the flavors yourself. Of course there is also eggs which have everything, but be careful not to overeat them, 2-3 a day and no more and it is recommended to have days when you don't eat eggs or meat at all. This will ease on the digestive system because they are loaded with nutrients that the digestive system has to deal with.
Highlights:
1. Meat, fish and eggs from as natural a source as possible (game/pastured meat, sea fish and free-range/organic eggs).
2. Consume mainly less fatty parts of meat and fish, where the inflammatory factors and given medications are concentrated.
3. Dosage – do not overeat any of the products and vary as much as possible (fish and eggs day, meat and legumes day, etc…)
Protein isolates (protein powders)
This is where I enter the world of supplements and products in which protein is added. First many of the powders are dairy derived, some of you know my position regarding dairy products, so I do not recommend protein powders that derive from milk protein. Vegetable protein powders from seeds, nuts, fruits, grains, etc., and the recommended ones are from seeds and nuts. There are also shake mixes that have lots of vitamins and minerals, but we don't know how they absorb from these products. Try to get your vitamins and minerals from the sun, vegetables, fruits and other foods and don't rely solely on these compounds.
Things to note:
1. No added sugar in any form (add healthy sweeteners if necessary).
2. There are no substances whose names you do not know in the ingredients list.
3. Pay attention to the dose you add and check the daily amount of protein – this can save a protein meal if done correctly.
Protein bars and protein-supplemented products
Then there is also the new trend of protein bars. The vast majority of them have added protein in the form of whey protein isolate which I do not recommend. Unfortunately, I did not see a protein snack in my searches that meets the definitions of a healthy snack. The closest I found in Israel was from Pangea (not the pistachio halva flavor), where the sources of sugar are natural and even the banana extract is natural in their chocolate banana almond snack. Even the price is not expensive when buying 20 units. So if it's a protein treat you want, it's the closest to a good industrial product that you can occasionally consume.
Most companies ride the PRO wave that if there is protein in the product then it is considered 'healthy'. I must explain that a combination of proteins and sugar is exactly what we fear will happen in the body of diabetics. Proteins that have undergone a reaction with sugar, cannot perform their activity properly in the body. Even one of these glycated proteins is tested in blood tests to see the status of diabetic patients, in fact it is the best predictor of the disease state, glycated hemoglobin (Hemoglobin A1c). A product which combines protein and sugar in the industrial products format, does not exist in nature only in the food industry. The discovery of combining the 3 tastes of protein, fat and sugar together (ice cream for example) as a superior taste and a strong dopamine booster, is what makes us all addicted to this taste. Real food no longer creates such a strong reaction in us and therefore we crave it less. We become addicted to this taste and our taste buds only demand it more and more intensely.
Well, we deviated from the topic, so here too the protein comes from the unhealthy source for the most part (whey protein) and most of the time these products contain all kinds of chemical substances that we would not want to introduce into our body. It's being used to be able to keep the snacks at room temperature in good condition. So my recommendation is to avoid products from the PRO shelf that take pride as being healthy, but if you decide to purchase, take a good look at the ingredients. And yes, you can make snacks like this at home with healthy protein powder and that way you will enjoy a snack that you know what you put in it.
There are all kinds of recipes on the internet, here is one, search and you will find there are many more.
It is always better to make an effort and prepare at home what you want to consume because the industry does everything to get you to buy its products. Everything looks so beautiful and the delicious, but the question is whether it is also nutritious for your body, which is your vehicle in life and has no substitute like a snack.
To summarize:
1. It is worth checking from where we consume our protein to maintain health.
2. Protein is a satiating component in our diet, so it is worth increasing its consumption if we are feeling hungry often.
3. Plant-protein consumption should be sometimes supplemented with essential amino acids and for animal protein eat the lean parts and limit.
4. Protein powders from plant sources can be added to the diet in case you fail to reach the daily protein goal. Although daily goals are not right for everyone.
5. Confectionery products with added protein should be treated as regular sweets and if you want a protein snack you can make it at home.
1. Roberts MD, Haun CT, Mobley CB. Physiological Differences Between Low Versus High Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophic Responders to Resistance Exercise Training: Current Perspectives and Future Research Directions. Front Physiol. 2018 Jul 4;9:834. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.00834.
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