Pro!

Continuing on the promised “How much?” macronutrient series, this week follows the post on CHO (carbohydrate). Unlike CHO, Protein (Pro) in pretty large amounts is necessary to survive, further, to thrive, and even further, to be athletic.

Of the three macronutrients (CHO, Pro and Fat), Pro is perhaps the seemingly least contentious. You never see a product touting that it’s “protein-free” or “low-protein”, and in general the concept of ‘quality’ protein is only recently starting to be used and abused by the food industry thanks to lax labeling regulation. I’ll get to protein recommendations, but first, a quick overview of where people get confused on protein.

Saturated Fat & Cholesterol Scapegoats

Most people get confused (and rightly so) when the related topic of saturated fat or cholesterol are raised. This topic falls under “Protein” because these are present in all animal products. The most simplified summary of this issue: dietary saturated fat and cholesterol intake only becomes a health issue when you are consuming or already sick as a result of a diet that includes refined carbohydrate and low-quality fats.

Saturated fat and cholesterol appear as scapegoats because they are – they appear at the scene of the ‘crime’ along with other components in atherosclerotic plaques at all stages of heart disease, and in blood tests (triglycerides, LDL, HDL, etc.) as they do play a role in worsening health markers when a person’s diet/lifestyle is otherwise poor. But they are not the cause. The underlying cause of most preventable health issues (which are the majority of health costs) is chronically elevated insulin levels (from refined CHO) and chronic inflammation in many body systems from elevated insulin as well as from lack of sleep, high alcohol intake, and intake of low-quality fats – vegetable oils, hydrogenated, trans fat.

Removing refined carbohydrate and low quality fat from the diet, getting minimum 8 hrs of sleep, reducing alcohol consumption, and getting exercise would all help solve a majority of health care costs. While there’s plenty of hard science to support this recommendation and outcome, there’s much more food industry lobby money, precedent, and the fear/backlash from back-pedaling standing in the way of the USDA/AHA/ADA, etc. Instead of revising dietary recommendations as a package, the American diet and underlying lifestyle that relies on it is depicted as given. Dietary recommendations (and corresponding convenience products and supplements) are made to try to side-step inevitable diseases stemming from USDA recommendations and studies are furnished to support them.

These recommendations include reducing saturated fat and cholesterol intake; the result: meat and eggs are targeted – ‘low cholesterol/saturated fat’ meat and egg white products become more popular. The USDA recommended increased fiber intake in the form of refined carbohydrate sources (whole grain products, supplements) results in a variety of high glycemic-load refined carbohydrate products and fiber supplements. Recommendations for increased antioxidant intake results in high-glycemic-load ‘healthy’ sources of fruit, juices and sports drinks. And recommendations from many random health groups (sometimes disguised industry organizations) end up in a cycle of reinforcement.

This history of how this came to be is nicely summarized in Gary Taubes’ book Good Calories Bad Calories, and also in his NYT 2002 piece. What’s unfortunate is that the high protein strategy that could be saving millions of lives and health care dollars (specifically a high-protein, low-refined carbohydrate, high-nutrient-dense diet). I like Mark Sisson’s summary of saturated fat situation in popular media: “Most doctors tow the company line and roundly condemn it, while the media generally follows suit. The public, unsurprisingly, laps it up from birth. The result is a deeply ingrained systemic assumption that saturated fat is evil, bad, dangerous, and sinful, a preconceived notion that precludes any meaningful dialogue from taking place. Everyone “knows” that saturated fat clogs your arteries – that’s treated as a given – and attempting to even question that assumption gets you lumped in the crazy category.” Here’s a great piece from Dr. Eades on saturated fat. Here’s an awesome overview of cholesterol from Mark Sisson (Mark’s Daily Apple or MDA).

Protein strategies

Besides its structural role in muscle and many organ systems, protein is used to repair cells and as a substrate to make enzymes—the mechanism for most chemical reactions in the body. A protein-rich meal promotes satiety, alertness and stabilizes blood insulin levels (a CHO-rich, Pro-poor meal does the opposite). High-protein diets are how we evolved to eat.

There is a ‘minimum’ recommendation of protein to efficiently maintain your lean mass and all the thousands of functions in your body requiring proteins and individual amino acids. Whether to add to that minimum should be a function of activity levels as well as goals. Assuming our activity level is non-sedentary, here are the guidelines you should aim for. The ranges depend on activity level.

• Maintenance of present body composition: 0.7-1 g Pro per pound of body weight
• Fat loss goal as well as lean mass gain: 1 g Pro minimum per pound of body weight
• Lean mass gain with very high activity levels: 1 – 1.5 g Pro per pound of body weight

Sources

Meats

The most efficient and healthy way to get your required protein is from varied animal quality protein sources. Variety because the nutrient profile of different animals is different and variety in diet is a great insurance policy for completeness for required nutrients you need on a daily basis. Quality protein is an issue because what went into your meat goes into your body.

Grass-fed is always a better choice. For millions of years we evolved eating wild animals, not ones fed on a diet of grain/corn/soy and raised in a CAFO and statistically dangerous (this comprises 99% of meat found in restaurants and standard grocers). Grass-fed meats are high in a long, long list of goodies that means improved health, performance and aesthetics.  And just like in your body, in the animal, toxins—pesticide, antibiotic residues, and extremely high levels of omega-6 as a result of a grain-based diet—are deposited in fat (which you can’t always pick off). This is a part of the reason for the modern phenomenon of disease-causing levels of omega 6 fatty acids in the standard American diet. If you eat grass-fed meat, definitely eat the fat!

“Grass fed” labeling is unfortunately often misleading. Check out this decoder to understand some labeling (though Whole Foods has their own system entirely). Here’s a list of protein sources to avoid/significantly limit.

Eggs

Eat them, and eat the yolks! Here’s a good summary of why, and here’s a good purchasing guide. Those with autoimmune diseases or GI issues might want to try experimenting with low-no egg intake to see what results they get, as both egg yolk and white components can cause immune responses and GI irritation (where the initial cause of the autoimmune disease/GI issue could likely have been gluten/lectins, not the egg itself… something to read up on/consider).

Fish

Go for wild caught whenever possible, and if you’re female, definitely consider the list of low-no consumption lists. Excellent summary of this by MDA here.

Protein Powder

Protein powder is nutritionally inferior to whole food by a lot. You should carefully consider why you’re interested in protein powder, and then select carefully. The edge that protein powder vs. whole food may have for the sole purpose of quicker recovery and anabolic processes varies by person. For those with body fat issues, especially mid-section (insulin control), liquid food, even protein, and especially dairy-derived protein, may be counter-productive. If your lifestyle requires protein powder for convenience, consider first other whole convenient protein sources like hard boiled eggs, sardines (not kidding, they’re delicious) and nitrate-free jerky (or make your own, or check out Paleo Kits). If you can plan ahead just a little, have leftovers or a quiche (recipe at the end of post – baked egg w/meat/veggies in a casserole or cupcake-style format) available for crunch time.

If you just enjoy a shake now and again (and that I do) read up, pick a ‘clean’ source – whey concentrate or isolate are good choices. If you’re extremely sensitive to dairy, opt for egg protein, or just have a steak. Soy is a whole other can of worms, but a good rule of thumb: avoid, especially powdered form. Here’s a good primer from MDA.

Beans and Dairy

Beans are not an efficient source of nutrients or energy, contain lectins which may interfere with a variety of metabolic processes, irritate existing inflammatory diseases, and contain nutrient absorption-blocking components. Check out Whole 9’s primer.

Higher-sugar “Paleo” forms of dairy (raw) are in the grey zone from a usefulness perspective due to their insulinogenic effects and growth-promoting properties (a blessing when using dairy as a mass-gain tool, a curse for potential roles it plays in cancer-promotion), but is an interesting topic. Here’s Whole 9’s Dairy Manifesto. Compare with MDA’s take on it.

How-To

So, what does that translate to for “how much”?

Well, if you weight 150 lbs and you’re aiming for the excellent goal of 1g Pro per lb of body weight, then you’d want to aim for 150g of Pro. The grams of protein per unit of meat depends on the source. Here’s a list of the grams of protein in common servings of meat.  A general rule of thumb is for 100g or 3.5 oz of meat (about the size of a deck of cards depending on the meat and cooking method), you get out of it about 20 g of protein.

Sample day for 150-pound person looking to maintain lean mass, gain strength, and lose some body fat (note very low levels of high-glycemic CHO):

Breakfast: Leftovers – 6 oz london broil steak, 1 c rapini / veggie stir-fry with coconut oil, sm. handful macnuts – OR – 5-whole egg scramble with 2oz sautéed collard greens, shredded turkey and herbs

Lunch: 10oz salmon (wild caught Alaskan), large raw kale/basil salad with whole smashed avocado, sm. handful pine nuts, lemon juice

Snack: 3 baked bacon strips (homemade snack), sm. handful goji berries (3 hrs pre-WOD)

30 mins Post-WOD/post-game: 1/2c baked acorn squash (for recovery and to replenish muscle glycogen), whey protein isolate (no other ingredients; 30g Pro) + water/ice shake

Dinner: 4 sm. pork chops (~7oz), 1c red cabbage slaw with herbs sesame oil, 1c cauliflower garlic soup

Here’s a good article from MDA on where to buy, great for those with family outside of LA or a city with plenty of grass-fed options.

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Workout of the Day 6/16/2010

A. Overhead Squat 2-2-2

B. Run 600M
25 Overhead Squats
5 Push-Ups
Run 400M
20 Overhead Squats
10 Push-ups
Run 300M
15 Overhead Squats
15 Push-ups
Run 200M
10 Overhead Squats
20 Push-ups
Run 100M
5 Overhead Squats
25 Push-ups