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A message from Founder and Owner, Coach Tristan Mitchell: Last month I talked about the importance of getting enough protein in our diet – as a reminder we are aiming for as close to 1g of protein per pound of body weight as we can consistently get to. This is particularly important if we are highly active and as we age to support our lean muscle mass, overall strength, and recovery. This month let’s look at various foods and their protein content and start thinking about how we can practically apply this knowledge to the meals we are eating day to day. We’ll start with some common animal food sources of protein followed by various plant sources. We’ll use the measurement of 100g as it’s comparable to the size of an adult’s palm: Chicken breast – 32g 90% lean, 10% fat ground beef – 20g Various cuts of beef – top sirloin, tenderloin, flank, strip – 27g, skirt – 26g, ribeye – 24g Eggs (per egg) – 6-7g Wild game (various based on animal and cut) – 20-30g Lean pork – 31g Tuna – 30g Salmon – 27g
Plant sources: These lists can go on forever, but I hope this paints a basic picture of protein content in various foods. A few important things to think about – a good diet has plenty of variety of whole and unprocessed foods, both from animal and plant sources. When we are thinking specifically about protein, animal sources are without a doubt superior. For instance, to get to 32g of protein of hemp seeds you need to eat 550 calories worth (that includes 49g of fat) of hemp seed versus 157 calories (3g of fat) of chicken to get to 32g of protein. It’s a similar number of calories for almonds and peanuts (579 and 567 to be exact). This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look at plants as sources of protein, it just means they are not as efficient of a source of protein as animal products – and we’re not even getting into the conversation on bioavailability (I’ll spare you that one for another time!) but in a nutshell protein from animal products is generally thought of has being better absorbed by our bodies. If we are trying to get 1g of protein per pound of body weight you can see how difficult that’s going to be if you’re solely relying on plant sources. Many of the “high” protein plant sources would require you to eat a very large number of calories to get that protein when compared to animal foods. Plant foods provide us with fiber, healthy fats, and micronutrients but not high amounts of protein. I’ll use myself as an example of how to apply this to meal selection to get to my protein goal, which for me is 175g (I don’t get there everyday but I do try!). I eat two meals a day so if I split that evenly between the meals I need to have at least 3 palm sized servings of protein at every meal, ideally getting a little over 85g of protein. If I do this primarily through animal foods, I can get there relatively easily by consuming between 400-700 calories depending on my meat source. To do the same via nuts and seeds (high protein plant sources) I would need to consume somewhere between 1200-1600 calories worth of nuts and seeds. Or do get to 85 grams of protein via black beans I would need around 1300 calories worth of black beans or about 10 palm size servings worth. This is all just to get to my protein goals, not including my carbohydrate and fat intake goals! Again, this isn’t to say don’t eat nuts, seeds, or black beans, it’s to say that if you are removing animal foods as your main source of protein it becomes a lot more difficult to reach your protein goals - it can be done but will take proper planning. Using this visualization of palm sized servings helps me plan my meals better and sets me up to reach my protein goals. Remember, we don’t need perfection, but we do want to be working in the right direction on a consistent basis. If you have questions or want to discuss how you can best hit your protein goals reach out to us today!
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