Jump to content

Usable Protein Problems


Recommended Posts

We all know the 1g protein for 1lb of body weight rule, personally I believe that 0.75g is more than enough, especially for beginners like myself.

 

But here in lies the vegan dilemma, that protein weight is "usable protein" or protein with a good bio-availability.

 

http://scoobysworkshop.com/protein-calculator/?GROUP=1600&NDB_NO=16397&GRAMS=30&SUMMARY=1&calc=Y&submit=Submit

 

This link above more or less shows what I'm a little concerned about. You have to eat a huge amount of calories of food in order to get a good quantity of proper muscle building protein from plant sources. How much longer does it take to experience gains in strength on a whole foods/plant based diet? Cause obviously no one actually eats enough beans etc to do this. I'd like to start eating like this but I'm worried that I'll mess up the nutrition and loose muscle instead of gaining it

 

I guess my question is.... is it actually possible to eat 150g of usable muscle building protein on a vegan diet? I know you probably could but you'd be eating SOOOOOO many calories that you'd need to do hours of cardio each day to make sure you don't get fat. It seems black beans are probably the best source?

 

My other question is.... is it actually necessary to eat that much usable muscle building protein anyway?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First, 1g/lbs protein is broscience.

 

You're right, 0.75g/lbs is suffice.

 

In fact, overkill of protein increases IGF-1 levels and increases your risk of cancer.

http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/abstract/S1550-4131(14)00062-X

 

Now, the whole "usable protein" thing only applies if your diet is extremely limited,

meaning you're getting your calories ONLY from peanut butter, or beans, etc.

 

If you're eating a diet with variety, it's fine. One example is beans and rice.

Beans have a high amount of certain types of amino acids, but extremely low in other types of amino acids.

Rice makes up for the low amino acids in beans.

 

Here's a PDF that shows you what the limiting amino acids are in certain foods, and what to pair them with:

http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/articles/plant-food-protein-chart.pdf

 

By the way, you DON'T have to eat the complimentary foods together in the same meal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After being in the health industry for 10+years and initially being borderline OCD on calories, protein intake etc, I can honestly say I have never felt better by simply eating what I feel my body requires at the time that it needs it. If that is 3,000cals one day and 1,800cals the next day so be it. I used to take protein shakes, emphasise protein-rich foods and try to aim for a specific amount of protein a day but honestly it made zero difference at all to my strength or musculature when I put these hypotheses aside and lowered my protein whilst raising my carbs and fats.

 

IMHO I do think that a lot of athletes consume more protein than they need and not enough healthy fats/EFA's, I would rather people placed higher priority over the quality and variety of foods they eat on a daily basis; any nutritional program or 'diet' that cannot be maintained successfully long term for whatever reason(s) obviously has flaws in it somewhere. That's just my viewpoint, but I do think high protein diets are sub-optimal for many athletes; plus if you spend any reasonable amount of time researching the people that are promoting these types of diets, quite often you will end up finding that they have a vested interest in protein supplements, protein-based food/drink etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First, 1g/lbs protein is broscience.

 

You're right, 0.75g/lbs is suffice.

 

In fact, overkill of protein increases IGF-1 levels and increases your risk of cancer.

http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/abstract/S1550-4131(14)00062-X

 

Now, the whole "usable protein" thing only applies if your diet is extremely limited,

meaning you're getting your calories ONLY from peanut butter, or beans, etc.

 

If you're eating a diet with variety, it's fine. One example is beans and rice.

Beans have a high amount of certain types of amino acids, but extremely low in other types of amino acids.

Rice makes up for the low amino acids in beans.

 

Here's a PDF that shows you what the limiting amino acids are in certain foods, and what to pair them with:

http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/articles/plant-food-protein-chart.pdf

 

By the way, you DON'T have to eat the complimentary foods together in the same meal.

Great post

 

Thank you MF.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...