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I've did some research on how many protein grams you need / day to build muscle, and some people say that you need 1 gram of protein for every kilogram of body weight , some 2 grams of protein for every kilogram of body weight, some 2,2 grams of protein for every kilogram of body weight. After doing that research using Google I'm quite confused. There is a huge difference between 1 gram of protein for every kilogram of body weight and 2 grams of protein for every kilogram of body weight.

Here are a few sources : 55 grams of protein per day, 100 - 150 grams / day, 0.8 grams per kilogram of body mass, 40 and 50 grams of protein per day, Your Body Weight (x) 2 = Grams of protein per day - 130 lbs (x) 2 = 260 Grams of protein per day, 120 grams of protein is more than enough to support muscle growth and finally from this website So, therefore our 150 lb, 15% body fat man should be shooting for 159 grams of protein in his daily diet.


For example I have 68 KG and my daily protein intake goes like this :

Morning shake : Whey Protein 24 Grams of Protein / serving + 2 pills of Glutamine
Breakfast : 2 eggs with 100 grams of bacon ( don't know how many proteins are here )
Post workout shake : Whey Protein 24 Grams of Protein / serving + 2 pills of Glutamine
Lunch : 250-300 grams of fried chicken breast with spinach & garlic souce ( don't know how many proteins are here )
Evening snake : a 330 grams bottle of Kefir ( 10 grams of protein )
Before going to bed : 2 pills of glutamine

By following this diet I manage to eat 1+ gram of protein for every kilogram of body weight but I don't know if this is enough or good.

Thanks !

Thou shalt not calculate dietary needs based on total body weight - ever.

Thou shalt use lean mass, as explained here.

If you base your numbers on total weight, you're feeding adipose tissue (fat), which you don't want. By basing your needs strictly on metabolically active tissue, you get a far more accurate calculation of what you body needs versus what your appetite and homeostasis want.

BTW - What happens with our bodies ( especially muscles ) if we don't eat enough proteins ?

necromanc wrote:BTW - What happens with our bodies ( especially muscles ) if we don't eat enough proteins ?

Your body will get its protein - either through your diet or through breaking down your muscles, which is exactly what happens if your protein intake is too low.

JoH wrote:

necromanc wrote:BTW - What happens with our bodies ( especially muscles ) if we don't eat enough proteins ?

Your body will get its protein - either through your diet or through breaking down your muscles, which is exactly what happens if your protein intake is too low.

What i've noticed after starting to eat enough proteins is that i'm losing weight faster. Why enough proteins speed up weight loss ?

necromanc wrote:

JoH wrote:

necromanc wrote:BTW - What happens with our bodies ( especially muscles ) if we don't eat enough proteins ?

Your body will get its protein - either through your diet or through breaking down your muscles, which is exactly what happens if your protein intake is too low.

What i've noticed after starting to eat enough proteins is that i'm losing weight faster. Why enough proteins speed up weight loss ?

OK, so not eating enough protein means your body catabolizes muscle mass to get its protein. Eating enough (and just enough, not crazy excess) means your body doesn't need to do that. Since muscle mass is metabolically active, by preserving that tissue your body burns more calories over time than if you didn't - leading to faster weight loss like you're describing. It's not the protein speeding the weight loss, it's the protein preserving the muscle that's doing the burning of the calories.

JoH wrote:

necromanc wrote:

JoH wrote:

necromanc wrote:BTW - What happens with our bodies ( especially muscles ) if we don't eat enough proteins ?

Your body will get its protein - either through your diet or through breaking down your muscles, which is exactly what happens if your protein intake is too low.

What i've noticed after starting to eat enough proteins is that i'm losing weight faster. Why enough proteins speed up weight loss ?

OK, so not eating enough protein means your body catabolizes muscle mass to get its protein. Eating enough (and just enough, not crazy excess) means your body doesn't need to do that. Since muscle mass is metabolically active, by preserving that tissue your body burns more calories over time than if you didn't - leading to faster weight loss like you're describing. It's not the protein speeding the weight loss, it's the protein preserving the muscle that's doing the burning of the calories.

Can you point me to an article that treats this subject with more depth ? I'd like to understand the process better.

Here's a good one for understanding Insulin/Glycogen and how it pertains to protein catabolism, etc:

http://www.medbio.info/Horn/Time%203-4/ ... asis_2.htm

And here's one about growth hormone and protein (really good series of info):

http://fitnessforoneandall.com/nutritio ... rt_one.htm

Any Google search on protein catabolism, blood glucose, lipolysis, the insulin/glucagon mechanism will give you a good understanding as to how your body actually works when pertaining to lipolysis (fat burning) and proteolysis (protein burning).

Hope these are helpful!

-Eric