The average person thinks protein is for people who want to be big and strong. It’s a common stereotype to associate this nutrient with bodybuilders and athletes. However, the average gym goer looking to get in good, healthy shape can see amazing benefits from protein.
Increasing protein can give you energy because it keeps you satisfied throughout the day, supports healthy tissue, and reduces blood sugar spikes. The right amount and sources of protein to achieve this depends on many factors. Activity level, body composition, and body weight all influence an individuals protein requirements.
To better understand why this is the case, let’s talk about how protein is digested in the body.
What is Protein?
Protein is special compound that manages a variety of tasks within the body. Most people associate it only to muscle, but while it does play a major role in muscle function, it also regulates hormones, controls automatic processes like breathing, keeps tissue like skin healthy, etc.
Each protein is made of smaller compounds called amino acids. There are 20 amino acids in human proteins, and 9 of them are considered essential because the body cannot create them on its own. This is where “complete” and “incomplete” protein sources get their name – those that are complete contain all 9 of the essential amino acids.
When protein enters the digestive tract, it’s broken down into it’s amino acids, which are absorbed by the small intestine. However, the process of breaking down protein takes the longest of the three macronutrients – proteins, fats, and carbs. This is because of the sheer size and complexity compared to the other two.
The most common source of protein is meats like chicken, fish, beef, etc. Other sources include certain nuts, wheats, dairy products, etc.
How It Can Give Energy
Makes You Feel Fuller Longer
Protein is extremely satisfying because it takes longer for the body to digest. This means eating a few hundred calories of protein leaves you much more full than eating a thousand of calories from certain carbs or fats. This is purely due to the size of protein compared to the other two. Larger molecules take longer to break down into small absorbable parts, meaning it stays in your stomach and creates a long-lasting sensation of being full.
For the same reason, your body actually burns more calories digesting protein than it does any other nutrient. This is called the Thermic Effect of Feeding (TEF). When eating carbs or fats, 0-10% of those calories are spent digesting the food itself. For protein, 20-35% is used for digestion.
An easy way to incorporate this is to add more protein to your breakfast, even in the form of a protein shake. Starting the day with high protein will keep you satisfied throughout the workday, eliminating the need for fast food or microwaveable lunches. Another popular myth is that drinking a protein shake on non-workout days will make you gain fat. This is not true since the only thing that can make you gain weight is eating too many calories. Since it’s been shown that protein keeps you satisfied – and therefore not want to eat as much food – that shake will actually keep your daily calories lower.
Reduces Insulin Spike of Certain Foods
Everyone has experienced a “crash” after a heavy meal. This is usually due to the high amount of insulin your body produces in response to digesting certain foods. Although all foods cause some degree of insulin release, simple carbohydrates like white rice, fruits, etc. will cause a sharp spike rather than a flat, steady increase. Such a spike does not make simple carbs bad for you, but the energy crash is can negatively effect your day-to-day life if unaddressed.
By adding protein to a simple carb meal – such as by adding chicken to a bowl of rice – the digestion of those carbs is slowed down because of the slow-digesting protein, which can completely counter that insulin spike. This results in a steady flow of energy throughout the day as oppose to a sharp boost followed by a crash. Fat does the same thing, so adding avocado or olive oil to that rice gives similar results.
Helps Boost Metabolism Through Muscle Maintenance
Everyone knows protein helps build muscle, but muscle has more important roles than looking good at the beach. In fact, the amount of muscle in one’s body is directly correlated with the speed of their metabolism – more muscle means faster metabolism. This is because muscle is one of the most expensive tissues to maintain, meaning your body has to burn a lot of calories not through activity, but just to keep muscle on the body. However, this metabolic boost would not be possible without protein. Protein is the most important building block for muscle, so without it, your body will not have the materials needed to keep it. This is like having a great car, but never having the gas to run it. And if the body does not have enough gas to maintain it’s muscle, it’ll get rid of it, slowing down the metabolism at the same time.
This benefit works best when paired with an effective resistance training program. Resistance training basically means using weights to strengthen the body. Just 2-3 days a week in the gym paired with consistently high protein every day is all it takes. Your metabolism and energy levels will stay elevated throughout the entire week.
Poor Digestion – How It May Take Away Energy
Despite the benefits of high-protein for energy, some people don’t work well with more protein. Knowing the signs of poor protein digestion can help prevent problems with too much protein.
Some people may get digestive issues from either too much protein or protein from a bad source. When this happens, the digestive track can become inflamed and restrict proper absorption of all the other nutrients passing through. If the right nutrients are not getting absorbed, your body will lose energy from malnutrition.
Because most people under eat protein, it’s more likely to result from a bad source. To figure out what sources are best for you, pay attention to where you get your protein. The two most common intolerances people have are to dairy and to artificial sweeteners, both of which are found in whey protein supplements. Other common sources of artificial sweeteners include zero calories foods/drinks, sugar free gum, and anything else that tastes good with little to no calories. If eliminating these foods improves your energy, then you can confidently say protein was not the problem.
How Much Protein Should I Eat
There are two main methods of estimating your protein goal: using bodyweight or bodyfat. Bodyweight is easier, but less accurate. Bodyfat, on the other hand, is much more accurate despite taking more time/materials to estimate.
Method #1: Using Bodyweight
The US Recommended Daily Intake of protein is 0.8g per kilogram of bodyweight. This is enough to keep sedentary individuals from malnutrition, but those who are active require much more. If you exercise in any way, you should be getting between 0.8 to 1.2g per pound of bodyweight. The exact number to use depends on your body composition. Those who carry more bodyfat should use a number closer to 0.8, while those who are already lean can use 1.2.
Your fitness goals can also impact this number. The body actually needs less protein if it tries to gain weight and more when losing weight. This is because of a phenomenon called the protein sparing effect of calories. When calories are low (which causes weight loss), some of the protein you eat get turned into glucose for energy rather than going to support you muscle tissue. On the other hand, when calories are high (building muscle), your body won’t sacrifice protein the same way. So those losing weight should also shoot for a higher protein goal, and those gaining weight should opt for less.
Use the following table as a guide:
| Protein (g) per pound of bodyweight | Losing Fat | Gaining Muscle |
| Relatively Lean | 1.2 | 1 |
| Average Body | 1.2 | 0.8 |
| Relatively Overweight | 1 | 0.8 |
Unless you use the bodyfat method below, judging whether you’re “lean, average, or overweight” is a somewhat subjective process. However, if you’re honest with where you’re starting, you’ll get a rough estimate of how much protein you should be eating daily. If you want a more accurate number, use the bodyfat method.
Method #2: Using Bodyfat
There are two main ways to analyze bodyfat: using a machine and using circumferences
Measure Body Fat With a Machine
The most readily accessible machine for body fat testing is called bioelectrical impedance machines. These devices send a light electric current through the body; because electricity cannot travel through fat, it estimates bodyfat based on how much electricity was resisted.
Bioelectrical impedance devices are often used in scales, so the investment of $50 into a good scale will not only help accurately calculate your protein needs, but also measure fat loss progress over time.
Measure Body Fat With Circumferences
If you don’t want to spend on a machine, you can still get a decent measurement using measuring tape and an online calculator.
ACTIVE’s calculator is a simple yet effective tool. Below are the required measurement sites and how to measure them.
| Waist | line up the tape with your belly button, and make sure the whole thing is parallel to the ground |
| Wrist | bend your hand backwards as far as you can, then measure where your hand folds against the forearm |
| Hip | measure the widest part of your hips, which is likely in the middle of your glute area |
| Forearm | measure the widest part of your forearm |
Using the Bodyfat Measurement To Estimate Daily Protein
Once you get a rough estimation of your bodyfat, you can
Daily Protein (g) = (1 – BodyFat%) x body weight
(1-BodyFat%) is your Lean Body Mass (LBM) – everything in your body that’s not fat, such as muscle and bone. Protein supports all tissue except bodyfat, so it makes sense to only provide protein for the parts of you that need it.