A message from Founder and Owner, Coach Tristan Mitchell:
This month we’re going to look back at a Pride piece I wrote last year as we continue the topic of protein and it’s importance. Even if you read this one last year it’s worth a reread to refresh the way you’re approaching your protein intake.
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 what 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 a comparable (on average) to the size of your 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 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 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 for protein as animal products – and we’re not even getting into the conversation on bioavailability but in a nutshell protein from animal products is generally thought of has being better absorbed by our bodies. In addition to that, if we are trying to get a gram 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 on how to apply this to my meal selection to get to my protein goal, which for me is 175g (I don’t get there every day, but I do try!). If I eat three meals a day I need to have 2 - 3 palm sized servings of protein at every meal, ideally getting around 60g of protein at each meal.
If I do this primarily through animal foods, I can get there relatively easily by consuming between 300-600 calories depending on my meat source. To do the same via nuts and seeds (high protein plant sources) I would need to consume somewhere in between 900 and 1200 calories worth of nuts and seeds. Or do get to 60 grams of protein via black beans I would need almost 1000 calories worth of black beans or about 7.5 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 you shouldn’t rely on them as your main source of protein.
Using this visualization 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 want to sit down and discuss how to best achieve your protein goals contact us today!
