How much protein is "enough"
There are a lot of different theories out there in the realm of bodybuilding and fitness but one thing that the entire community is in near complete agreement over is that muscle gain is determined by two things: How much you use those muscles, and how much protein is in your diet.
source
this is an actual product, and no, I didn't buy it
So how much protein is enough? Do you need protein supplements?
The general consensus is that if you lift, you should be consuming 3000 calories (plus the estimated amount that you burn via exercise - which can be tricky) in order to encourage the maximum muscle growth possible without naughty injections. However, it should be fairly evident that these calories can't come from just whatever if that were the case, what a wonderful world bodybuilding would be as gyms would all be attached to pizzerias and bars.
If you want to see muscle-mass gains it is important to consume between 1 and 1.5 grams of protein in your diet, each day. This should be relatively easy mass and no, i don't know what it is in pounds, use the internets.
source
For most of us, the cost / difficulty of eating this much meat in a day can be a bit tricky, if not impossible. For me, getting large quantities of meat in my diet is actually very difficult as most Thai (or any other Asian country) dishes focus on rice and curries and contain very little in the way of meat.
Basically, if you are going to the gym and working hard, first off - Good for you! You are making a very positive change in your life that hopefully will positively affect you for the rest of your life! However, if you are not adjusting your diet accordingly and expect to see mass gains, you are going to end up disappointed because it isn't biologically possible.
source
Gaining mass is far more complicated than simply going to the gym, you have to give your body the fuel it needs in order to see gains.
If you are beginning, i would say to stick to 1 gram of protein per KG of body weight to accustom yourself to the proces and then later adjust it to 1.5 for max results. If you live somewhere like I do, where protein is scarce and you can afford it, the Whey protein supplements are a massive help because they are easy to calculate.
Another benefit of a high protein diet of this magnitude is that protein makes you feel full longer and this discourages irresponsible snacking.
There is no fast fix for this and online you will see plenty of 12-week programs but to be honest I don't know anyone that has accomplished this. I suppose it would be possible if you were super-dedicated and didn't have to go to work etc. For the most part, I like the protein aspect of it because "one times whatever you weight" should be easy enough to figure out. The hard part will be determining what amount of protein is actually in your food.
You are right
As Indonesian people we get protein requirements from fish, chicken and eggs, besides of course vegetable protein from soybeans in the form of tofu and tempeh.
Processed meat in our diet is certainly relatively small. This is very closely related to the price of meat which is still relatively expensive.
But for athletes or people who really want to increase muscle mass, they certainly have to add high protein in their diet. so the need for protein can compensate for burning and training for the muscles.
Thank you @gooddream
Warm regard from Indonesia
You probably mean 1g/lbs as 1g/kg is really really low and way outside any suplement-needed range. There are just 4kcal in a gram of protein, so if for example you weigh 70kg and eat 3000 kcal, you would only get 9.3% of your calories from protein. For reference: for rice 8.3% of calories comes from protein.
I created a little spreadsheet some time back. It is for protein in a LC context, so just look at the protein to get the picture.
I actually did mean KG, but perhaps i should have focused more on it being 1.5 per KG, and not one. The reason for this is because studies (not bankrolled by a particular product in mind) found that in two groups - one consuming 1.4 G / KG and another group with 2.4 / KG ... there was no noticeable difference between the two. This isn't to suggest that eating more than 1.4 is bad, it just doesn't seem to have much impact and since protein tends to be more expensive... for me anyway, i thought it best to stop there.
from a study at Kent University
There have been other studies that showed huge gains coupled with up to 3g / kg but these test subjects were subjected to exercise to the point of daily exhaustion (this was military research).
Many researcher advise against going too high (like above 2.2g / kg) because of long-term complications that can occur such as kidney and heart disease, and osteoporosis. However, these doctors and researchers themselves admit that this could very well be related to "other factors" and make no claim that the protein was at fault.
I will admit that I am not expert and merely base my decisions on the gains i have seen in my own life and the process I used to get there. I will, however, look at your spreadsheet and thanks for your comment :)
Do you recommend taking supplementary?
Posted using Partiko Android
If it is easier / cheaper than doing it naturally, then yes. A country like the one i live in focuses on small portions almost devoid of meat. For me, it is pretty much the only way I can get the 100+ grams of protein i need each day to experience the gains i want.
To listen to the audio version of this article click on the play image.
Brought to you by @tts. If you find it useful please consider upvoting this reply.
As I said before, my wife is trying to get more protein in her diet. She is not a fan of pork or red meat though, so she has to look at other ways to get things done. She is also allergic to sucralose, and a lot of the protein powders have that in them to keep the calories down. She has started eating more beans and things like that.