How Much Protein Do You Need?
SEVERAL years ago I set out to answer to my own satisfaction the question of "how much protein is 'enough'?" Using myself as a guinea pig, for eight months I gradually and deliberately cut the amount of protein in my daily meals down to a point which I knew to be inadequate.
Every twenty-four hours I would consume only one medium-sized portion of either cheese, eggs, meat, fish or poultry.
And about once a week I would skip the protein meal entirely.
During the first several months after the experiment began, I felt reasonably well.
That is, nothing to brag about, yet not exactly unwell in any recognizable way.
But I did notice that an evening on the lecture platform or a day at my desk writing would leave me feeling head-and-body weary.
This was the first definite symptom that all was not well with me, because my usual strenuous daily routines, either while traveling or at home, had never before induced in me this kind of fatigue.
All I wanted to do was to sink into a chair and remain there in an exhausted kind of half-stupor, too weary to read or to converse with my family.
About the end of the seventh month of my self-imposed protein deficiency, I began noticing that my ordinarily good appetite was no longer so good.
Mealtime became merely a routine that I must adhere to because it was "time to eat.
" My customary pleasure in people and events was also gone; I noticed that even commonplace little matters would irritate me out of all proportion to their importance.
I found myself "too tired" to have fun with my two young sons, and any crisis, however petty, would find me without my former ability to make quick decisions.
In other words, I was not the man I used to be.
If I had not been aware of the cause for my "slipping/' I would have been panicked by that unpleasant discovery which many of you have already faced: / was losing my grip on youth.
The time had now arrived to discover whether or not, after deliberately sending my youth on its way, I could coax it to return by building up the amount of protein in my daily meals.
Within a month after starting to eat three high-protein meals a day, I could sense a marked change for the better in my disposition.
And not only was my zest for life definitely on the increase, but my face had lost its strained, weary expression, while the same daily routines no longer left me fatigued and chair-bound at night.
I hope that you, too, may experience that inexpressible joy of once more feeling like your old self.
There didn't seem to be hours enough in the day for me to catch up on all the things I had been missing during those long months of wake-up go to work come-home then climb into bed again.
This is what my experiment proved to me: "Some" protein is not enough when you have that not-exactly-sick, yet not-exactly-well feeling commonly associated with "beginning to get old.
" Although I had eaten three high-protein meals each day for years, during the experiment my body could not all back indefinitely on its protein reserves for the reason that the body cannot store protein as heavily as it can fats, sugars, some minerals and certain vitamins.
When not enough protein is supplied in the diet, your body turns into a heartless cannibal and begins to feed upon itself.
When a protein deficiency exists, certain body cells are consumed in order to feed the more necessary ones.
Not that the destroyed cells are unimportant.
But cells even more vitally important to a living body must feed on those that can be spared, at least for the time being.
It is this continued form of protein cannibalism that is the real cause of disease, of premature aging.
At least 70 to 100 grams (21/2 to 31/2 ounces) of protein every twenty-four hours has been established as a minimum daily requirement for the average person with a good digestion.
But here's the catch in this minimum figure: If your digestive mechanism is not working efficiently, you may receive the benefit of only 40 to 60 grams of the 70 to 100 grams of protein you are eating each day.
It's well to remember that along about the fortieth birthday, in many persons the digestive secretions tend to become less and less acid, meaning that the stomach acids become less able to digest protein foods thoroughly enough so that maximum assimilation can take place through the intestinal walls into the bloodstream.
(Drinking sweet milk with meals, or taking baking soda and other "alkalizers" after meals, are sure ways of preventing the stomach juices from doing an efficiently acid digestive job on the protein foods you have eaten.
) More than enough is safest with protein.
Every twenty-four hours I would consume only one medium-sized portion of either cheese, eggs, meat, fish or poultry.
And about once a week I would skip the protein meal entirely.
During the first several months after the experiment began, I felt reasonably well.
That is, nothing to brag about, yet not exactly unwell in any recognizable way.
But I did notice that an evening on the lecture platform or a day at my desk writing would leave me feeling head-and-body weary.
This was the first definite symptom that all was not well with me, because my usual strenuous daily routines, either while traveling or at home, had never before induced in me this kind of fatigue.
All I wanted to do was to sink into a chair and remain there in an exhausted kind of half-stupor, too weary to read or to converse with my family.
About the end of the seventh month of my self-imposed protein deficiency, I began noticing that my ordinarily good appetite was no longer so good.
Mealtime became merely a routine that I must adhere to because it was "time to eat.
" My customary pleasure in people and events was also gone; I noticed that even commonplace little matters would irritate me out of all proportion to their importance.
I found myself "too tired" to have fun with my two young sons, and any crisis, however petty, would find me without my former ability to make quick decisions.
In other words, I was not the man I used to be.
If I had not been aware of the cause for my "slipping/' I would have been panicked by that unpleasant discovery which many of you have already faced: / was losing my grip on youth.
The time had now arrived to discover whether or not, after deliberately sending my youth on its way, I could coax it to return by building up the amount of protein in my daily meals.
Within a month after starting to eat three high-protein meals a day, I could sense a marked change for the better in my disposition.
And not only was my zest for life definitely on the increase, but my face had lost its strained, weary expression, while the same daily routines no longer left me fatigued and chair-bound at night.
I hope that you, too, may experience that inexpressible joy of once more feeling like your old self.
There didn't seem to be hours enough in the day for me to catch up on all the things I had been missing during those long months of wake-up go to work come-home then climb into bed again.
This is what my experiment proved to me: "Some" protein is not enough when you have that not-exactly-sick, yet not-exactly-well feeling commonly associated with "beginning to get old.
" Although I had eaten three high-protein meals each day for years, during the experiment my body could not all back indefinitely on its protein reserves for the reason that the body cannot store protein as heavily as it can fats, sugars, some minerals and certain vitamins.
When not enough protein is supplied in the diet, your body turns into a heartless cannibal and begins to feed upon itself.
When a protein deficiency exists, certain body cells are consumed in order to feed the more necessary ones.
Not that the destroyed cells are unimportant.
But cells even more vitally important to a living body must feed on those that can be spared, at least for the time being.
It is this continued form of protein cannibalism that is the real cause of disease, of premature aging.
At least 70 to 100 grams (21/2 to 31/2 ounces) of protein every twenty-four hours has been established as a minimum daily requirement for the average person with a good digestion.
But here's the catch in this minimum figure: If your digestive mechanism is not working efficiently, you may receive the benefit of only 40 to 60 grams of the 70 to 100 grams of protein you are eating each day.
It's well to remember that along about the fortieth birthday, in many persons the digestive secretions tend to become less and less acid, meaning that the stomach acids become less able to digest protein foods thoroughly enough so that maximum assimilation can take place through the intestinal walls into the bloodstream.
(Drinking sweet milk with meals, or taking baking soda and other "alkalizers" after meals, are sure ways of preventing the stomach juices from doing an efficiently acid digestive job on the protein foods you have eaten.
) More than enough is safest with protein.
Source...