Health & Fitness
How Much Protein Do You Really Need?
Protein is important to building muscle so is very important when you are working out. Here is some important information about how much you should be eating.
There are a few ways you can determine how much protein your body needs on a daily basis. You may be wondering what exactly proteins are and where they come from.
Proteins are chains of amino acids that are linked together. There are two types of amino acids, essential amino acids and non-essential amino acids. Essential amino acids must come from a food source and non-essential amino acids are made within your body.
Protein can come from various sources including food and plants. Some types of proteins are considered to be complete protein sources because they contain a large amount of the nine essential amino acids that benefit the body. Protein is used almost every body function including building new muscle tissue.
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To determine how much protein your body needs there are a few steps that you can take to determine this:
- You can calculate the amount of calories you consume each day. About 10-15 percent of your caloric intake should come from proteins. There are about 4 calories in each gram of protein.
- An easier way to determine the amount of protein that you should consume each day is to take your weight in pounds and divide it by 2.2 to convert your weight into kilograms. Then, multiply your weight in kilograms by 0.8 to get your daily protein intake.
If you are active and work out on a regular basis then your body probably requires more protein than someone that is sedentary. Chances are you will not harm your body by eating more protein anyway. Also, try to eat lean healthy protein such as chicken, fish, egg whites, beans and dairy products.
