[quote]stuward wrote:
IronWarrior24 wrote: You should try to get at least 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight.
This number keeps going up. John Berardi and Tom venuto both say you should get at least 1g/lb and Tom Venutu suggests that you may want more pre contest while you rip down to low single digit fat but I have never heard anyone recommend 1.5 grams as a minimum. A better guide would be 30% of calories from protein. For you it might work out to be 1.5g/lb. I don’t know.
“However, a baseline diet with up to 30% of the total daily calories from lean protein is not only healthy, it�??s a necessity if you�??re in serious training for bodybuilding or fat loss. If you reduce your carbohydrates and raise your protein above 30% of your total calories, then you sometimes have to be more cautious as issues such as dehydration and nutrient deficiencies might become issues. However, a key distinction must be made: A high-protein, low or moderate carbohydrate diet is a temporary tool. Nutrition programs should be cycled just like training programs. After a fat loss phase (Or competition season) is over, an intelligent person will cycle back to a much more balanced diet that contains a wide variety of foods, with less protein, more carbs and plenty of fruits, vegetables, complex carbohydrates and whole grains.” - Tom Venuto[/quote]
I agree that in some cases 1 gram per pound of bodyweight is sufficient. However, consuming more will not hurt you at all and will insure that you get the most out of your workouts. I feel that 1 gram per pound of bodyweight is the very minimum that you should get, but I think that 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight is even better. Also, some people do recommend at or above 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight.
Cy Willson: For a typical bodybuilder, there’s no question that a minimum of 1 g/lb is an absolute necessity. I think metabolism has a lot to do with intake so in cases where the person has a fast metabolism, I’d go with 1.25 to 1.50 g/lb. I’ve seen guys that had trouble gaining muscle conquer this by simply using that formula. One thing that you didn’t mention, though, is that too many guys don’t understand that protein intake, along with enough overall calories, is the key determinant of how much muscle you can gain.
Lonnie Lowrey: Now might be a good time to discuss the potential for protein over-consumption. As you both know, there’s no consensus (or even a single study to my knowledge) that excess protein (> 0.8 g/kg) does any measurable damage to healthy kidneys. Most of the scare tactics stem from the data on renal patients. These patients end up with rapid loss of kidney function on normal high protein diets. Interestingly, the very professionals who point out every mistaken extrapolation in the dietary supplement world conveniently forget that they’re doing the same “leap of faith” bullshit by applying this patient data to healthy athletes.
Having said that, I think there are real body composition advantages to eating upwards of 1.5 g/ lb. That’s right, overfeed protein! First off, overeating protein, within reason, will not make you fat. A calorie is not a calorie! That is, excess protein calories aren’t as likely to be stored as body fat compared to carbs and most fats. This is because protein has to have its nitrogen ripped off in the liver (the urea cycle), which is an energy costly process. To boot, protein kicks up glucagon secretion and glucagon antagonizes the lipogenic (fat storage) effects of insulin.