Protein is personal. Here's how to calculate your optimal intake

Protein is having a moment. Coffee chains are adding it into lattes. Many snack companies are labeling their products as high-protein. But how much protein do you really need? Host Marielle Segarra talks with NPR health correspondent Allison Aubrey about the different factors to consider when planning your protein intake. Follow us on Instagram: @nprlifekit https://www.instagram.com/nprlifekit/?hl=en Sign up for our newsletter here. https://www.npr.org/newsletter/life-kit Have an episode idea or feedback you want to share? Email us at [email protected] mailto:[email protected] Support the show and listen to it sponsor-free by signing up for Life Kit+ at plus.npr.org/lifekit http://plus.npr.org/lifekit See pcm.adswizz.com https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy

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• 0:17Marielle Segarra?

  You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.

• 0:23Marielle Segarra?

  Hey, it's Marielle. Today on the show, we're talking about protein. You may know that we need it to stay alive and that it allows us to build and repair our muscle tissue, but it does a lot more.

• 0:35Speaker 02

  It also makes the enzymes your body uses to digest food. It produces the antibodies that help your immune system fight off viruses and infection. So proteins are really kind of workhorse molecules. They're absolutely essential.

• 0:51Marielle Segarra?

  This is Allison Aubrey, a science and health correspondent at NPR. She's been reporting on protein lately because protein, it seems, is having a moment, in particular because Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a big proponent. In fact, he says he personally only eats meat, fish, and fermented foods like yogurt. Though I should say, the federal government issued new dietary guidelines for Americans this year, and they do recommend eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Back to the protein question, though. Allison wanted to strip away the noise and give people a clear sense of how much protein they actually need a day.

• 1:29Speaker 02

  Because the answer isn't exactly the same for everyone. Your optimal protein intake depends on who you are, and some key factors include how active you are, your age, and your body weight.

• 1:40Marielle Segarra?

  On this episode of Life Kit, a personalized protein roadmap. We'll talk about how many grams of protein you should aim for each day based on different factors, and we'll also talk about how to meet those goals. You don't have to be a carnivore. That's after the break.

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• 3:10Marielle Segarra?

  Okay, Alison, is there a recommended amount for how much protein we all need every day?

• 3:16Speaker 02

  Well, the numbers have actually just been updated this year, which is part of why we are talking about this right now. So the federal dietary guidelines now recommend a higher daily intake, somewhere between 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day. Now, I know that most of us in the US don't think in terms of kilograms, so you can use an online calculator to make the conversion and calculate how much protein you need. I'll say more about that in a moment. But the bottom line here is that this is a meaningful bump up from prior guidelines. And Rachel Pogednik, who has studied this for a very long time, told me she's on board with this change.

• 3:57Speaker 05

  That's the ideal range. I think that's why these guidelines were updated. And I think this is what the research has been really showing for quite some time now.

• 4:04Marielle Segarra?

  Okay, so let's say somebody weighs 150 pounds. What would they need?

• 4:09Speaker 02

  Yes, absolutely. It can be complicated, but let's make it concrete here. So you take that 150-pound person. They need roughly 82 grams of protein a day on the low end and up to about 109 grams on the high end. And this is why body weight even enters into the equation. You're calculating how much protein you need based on weight.

• 4:31Marielle Segarra?

  That feels like a lot to me. But maybe it's because I don't eat a ton of meat or I don't eat meat all the time. I'm trying to figure out how this would actually look on a plate.

• 4:44Speaker 02

  Sure. Well, let me just walk you through. I've thought a little bit about this in preparation. And here's one way to think about hitting that range for a day, for that 150-pound person. Okay, breakfast, a cup of Greek yogurt. That's about 17, maybe 20 grams of protein right there. Add some nuts, a handful of nuts. You've got another four or five grams, depending on the type of nut. So you're starting the day with roughly 25 grams, you know, before you've left the house. Now, for lunch, think a cup of cooked lentils. That's about 18 grams. Add some vegetables. For instance, a cup of broccoli has about 2.5 grams of protein, give or take. Now you've got a solid meal and you've gotten more protein maybe than you realized.

• 5:29Speaker 02

  A snack, a handful of almonds or some, say, hummus with veggies. That's around five more grams. And for dinner, a meal that includes, say, a four-ounce chicken breast, which is about 35 grams of protein. Well, then you add that all up and you are right in the target range. Now, if you're not a meat eater, you can swap in tofu at the dinner meal, which is about three to four grams of protein per ounce, or other kinds of beans.

• 5:56Marielle Segarra?

  Okay, so you can get enough protein even if you don't eat animal products?

• 6:00Speaker 02

  Yes, you can. This is one of the more common questions and the science is actually pretty clear, pretty reassuring on this. You can get everything you need from plant-based sources. Here's Rachel Pajednik again.

• 6:13Speaker 05

  The literature shows unequivocally that you can get enough protein and all of the essential amino acids from a plant-based diet as well as a diet that includes meat or meat-derived products.

• 6:25Speaker 02

  So you know, sometimes people conflate their personal preferences or politics with the science and say, oh, you know, you gotta eat meat to get all the protein. But that is just simply not true.

• 6:36Marielle Segarra?

  Is the protein you get from plants the same as the protein you'd get from meat?

• 6:41Speaker 02

  So just a little bit of context first on why people sometimes worry that they won't get enough protein from plant sources. There are about 20 amino acids that the body uses as building blocks for protein. And nine of them are considered essential. What this actually means is that your body can't manufacture them on its own. So we've got to get these through the food and drinks we consume. So animal products like meat, eggs, dairy typically supply sufficient amounts of all nine of these amino acids. And some plant sources, like soybeans, which is used to make tofu, are also considered quote unquote, "complete proteins."

• 7:21Speaker 02

  But many plant foods have lower proportions of specific amino acids, so they are thought to be incomplete proteins. So really, this is the key message. If you eat a wide variety of plant foods to get enough of all of these amino acids, Pajetnik says, this is possible. I mean, think vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, legumes. You can kind of mix and match and cover the full spectrum. And, you know, if you're not getting everything that you need from food, then of course, there's the protein powders and the supplements.

• 7:57Marielle Segarra?

  Okay, so you mentioned that how much protein you need depends on your body weight, but on other factors, too. What are those?

• 8:04Speaker 02

  Let's talk about activity level, because this is important. I spoke to a researcher named Stuart Phillips. He's at McMaster University in Canada. He studies skeletal muscle health. And he told me that activity is one of the key drivers of how much protein you need. When you exercise, you're creating stress on the body. And then that stress can actually increase the amount of protein your muscles use. Here he is.

• 8:32Speaker 06

  When you eat more protein, you can take more up. You make more new muscle proteins.

• 8:39Speaker 06

  And if you like, compensate for the stress of the exercise.

• 8:43Speaker 02

  So there's this very symbiotic relationship between movement and protein, where exercise kind of creates the need for muscle repair, and protein provides the fuel to rebuild, to stay strong. This is why, you know, many weightlifters and competitive athletes have long been told to eat on the high end of the protein recommendations. So really, the key message here is if you're working out regularly, you may want to be closer to that, you know, 1.6 grams per kilogram mark, that high end of the new guidelines, as opposed to the lower end.

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• 10:18Marielle Segarra?

  All right, what about age? Does the amount of protein we need change based on how old we are?

• 10:23Speaker 02

  So protein needs actually increase with age because the body becomes kind of less efficient at processing protein. And so bumping up intake to that higher end of the recommended range can be beneficial. And you know, these age-related changes, a lot of people just don't see them coming. And by the time they notice, they may have already lost a little ground. Here's Stuart Phillips again.

• 10:47Speaker 06

  People begin to lose muscle mass somewhere in their 30s and 40s. And you don't notice it until maybe your 50s or your 60s. And all of a sudden, you can't do one thing or another.

• 10:59Speaker 02

  So, you know, maybe you go to lift your suitcase when you're on the airplane and it's hard to get it into the overhead bin. Or you're carrying your groceries from the car and it's more challenging. You have to take two trips. So these are inconveniences, but they are also signals that your muscle mass has begun quietly declining. And maybe your body is telling you it's time to pay attention. So Phillips says the remedy to this starts with physical movement.

• 11:25Speaker 06

  If you exercise, particularly weightlifting or resistance exercise, that's going to slow muscle loss down. And that then in combination with more protein would be even more effective.

• 11:37Marielle Segarra?

  Anything else we need to think about as we're figuring out our protein needs?

• 11:41Speaker 02

  You know, I think there is something else. Women, I mean, women tend to eat less protein compared to men and also tend to do less strength training, at least historically. I know as a Gen X woman, I was late to the strength training memo. And many women have long prioritized sort of cardio over strength training. So the key message here is really simple. It isn't about being extreme or lifting heavyweights five days a week. I mean, even just adding some resistance training, things like body weight exercises, you know, light weights, resistance bands, two to three times a week for say a half an hour, combined with bumping up your protein toward that higher end of the recommended range can help you maintain muscle mass, like help you stay strong.

• 12:26Speaker 02

  And this can lead to a longer, healthier life.

• 12:30Marielle Segarra?

  Allison Aubrey, thank you so much for being here.

• 12:33Speaker 02

  You're welcome. This is one of those topics where the science is actually pretty actionable. One should cut through all the noise.

• 12:41Marielle Segarra?

  All right, time for a recap. Federal dietary guidelines recommend that adults get between 1.2 and 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight every day. Since most of us in the US don't think in kilograms, probably the easiest thing to do is use an online calculator to convert your weight into pounds and then use that number to calculate your protein needs. Say you weigh 150 pounds. That's about 68 kilograms. So you'd want to eat between about 82 and 109 grams of protein a day. If you're working out a lot, especially strength training, you'll want to aim for the top of that range. And remember that we start to lose muscle mass in our 30s and 40s.

• 13:24Marielle Segarra?

  So if you're in that range or older, make strength training and eating protein a priority. Oh, one more quick point. These recommendations are intended for the general public, but if you have a health condition, you want to talk to your doctor. For instance, people with chronic kidney disease might be advised to eat less protein.

• 13:45Marielle Segarra?

  This episode of Life Kit was produced by Claire Marie Schneider. Our digital editor is Malika Gharib, and our visuals editor is CJ Rakulon. Megan Cain is our senior supervising editor, and Beth Donovan is our executive producer. Our production team also includes Andy Tagle, Margaret Serino, Sylvie Douglas, and Mika Ellison. Engineering support comes from Stacy Abbott. Fact checking by Andrea Lopez-Cruzado. I'm Mariel Segarra. Thanks for listening.

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