Protein Counting – What is the Important Number?
The goal of
most exercise regimens and diets is to reduce fat while adding tone or muscle
mass in body composition. A part of dieting and most serious fitness routines
is counting calories and grams.
It
can get far more in depth than that in tracking dietary intake with many
choosing to separate saturated fats, sugars, and complex carbohydrates for starters; but
calories, unsaturated fats, and proteins are important numbers for even casual fitness or
health conscious individuals. The question is whether simply counting grams is
of any real benefit.
What is the Goal?
If the goal
is reduction of body fat percentage and weight associated with body fat
percentage then reduction of calories through diet and burning of calories and
fat with exercise are the primary methods. Since the goal is virtually never to
reduce lean muscle mass, the counting of protein becomes a factor.
Simply
reducing intake of food completely (and therefore calories) without
consideration of protein will put you at risk of catabolizing (breaking down)
the lean muscle tissue as well as the stored fats.
Counting of Calories and Protein
A correct
diet for weight loss or fat burning without loss of lean muscle will include a
reduction in calories as well as maintaining protein intake. This is where the
attention turns to the grams of protein in your daily diet. If your goal is to
gain lean muscle mass, the protein counting becomes even more important.
In both
instances, the ratio of calories and protein – or to be more precise the percentage
of calories from protein is a more important number than actual grams of
protein. You cannot effectively gain muscle mass without additional protein
intake, and it is difficult to lose weight without a portion of it coming from
breaking down muscles if you have inadequate protein intake.
In both cases, you
want a lower overall body fat percentage, so you do not want to
simply eat protein if it means dramatically higher caloric intake from fats or
other sources.
This leaves
the number to be watched as a percentage of calories from protein. In dieting, to increase muscle mass and burn fat,
a good goal is to get 35-40% of your calories from proteins.
Calories from Proteins as a Percentage in Foods
Sirloin
Steak 59%
Chicken
Drumstick 51%
Typical
Ground Beef 23%
Salmon 56%
Eggs 34%
Peanuts 18%
Plain
Non-fat Yogurt 43%
Skim
Milk 40%
Whole
Milk 21%
Egg
whites 95%
Chicken
breast 80%
This sample
listing gives an idea of good (and bad) ways of getting a higher percentage of
your total calories from proteins.
Consistency is the key to building muscle mass and maintaining your lean and healthy body.
Consistency is the key to building muscle mass and maintaining your lean and healthy body.
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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