Protein - Everything you need to know!
There are countless different sources of protein. And they are all an essential part of our path to a healthy and strong body. The classics are of course meat, whey, eggs, fish and dairy products such as skyr. But some plant-based foods such as pulses are also surprisingly high in protein! Let's take a closer look at the basics.
What are proteins?
Quite simply, proteins are one of the three macronutrients along with fat and carbohydrates. This means that they provide the body with energy (measured in kilocalories). Micronutrients, on the other hand, cannot supply the body with energy. Proteins are macromolecules made up of amino acids. They are found in every cell in our body. What are amino acids? Quite simply, they are chemical compounds that are found in all living organisms. There are 20 canonical proteinogenic acids, 8 of which are essential amino acids. The body cannot produce these itself and must obtain them from outside through food. This means that a person MUST consume proteins (and also fats) on a long-term basis in order for the body to survive! In theory, we can do without carbohydrates for the rest of our lives. The quantity
How much protein should you eat every day? Of course, as with most substances, this depends heavily on the athlete's body weight. For a long time, there was a persistent rumor that consuming more than 1.4g/kg body weight would damage the kidneys in the long term, but this is really just a rumor. No such connection has been proven to date. Don't be afraid of protein!
According to many studies and the opinion of the vast majority of the bodybuilding scene, a protein intake of around 2g protein per kg of body weight per day is ideal for building muscle. If you weigh 75 kg, that's 150 g of protein per day. When dieting, you should increase this value slightly to prevent muscle loss.
The timing
In principle, the overall protein balance is far more important than the protein timing, but this also has an influence on your training success. You can maximally stimulate protein biosynthesis with a protein amount of around 30g in a meal. In simple terms, this means that you can stimulate muscle building as well as possible for a few hours. However, it is a myth that only 30g of protein is consumed per meal. You can easily consume 80g of protein per meal.
The value
The value of the protein plays a not insignificant role. The motto here is variety instead of monotony! Different foods also have different compositions in the protein structure (amino acid profile). Therefore, make sure you get your protein from as many different foods as possible in order to provide your body with the best possible nutrition. If you only eat beef or soy, to give a striking example, you will miss out on long-term gains because you may have supplied your body with a lot of protein, but it was not varied enough to cover all the needs of a complex mechanism such as the human body.
Plan B
2g of protein per kilo of your own weight EVERY DAY? For many people, this is not so easy to achieve when you consider that everyday life doesn't stop at anyone. Quite a few of us have children to bring up, full-time jobs, relatives to care for, a household to run and a social life of our own. So what can we do to always be on the safe side?
Supplements are the magic word. In addition to the unbeatable classic whey protein, which usually contains around 75% protein, almost 4 times as much protein as meat, you can never go wrong. Simply drink it between meals (or with a meal such as pancakes) in the form of a protein shake with water or milk (all milk alternatives can also be mixed with whey. In addition, there are now high protein variants of many common foods that make it much easier for us to achieve our desired protein levels. These include delicious protein bars, or protein-enriched versions of pudding, semolina and even chocolate or potato chips.