The Minimum Effective Dose Of Protein Intake
"Protein is the foundation of a healthy diet, and it's essential for maintaining a strong and vibrant body."
—Dr. Josh Axe
In the pursuit of a healthier lifestyle, the concept of "the minimum effective dose" has become a guiding principle. It's a notion that emphasizes achieving optimal results with minimal effort—a strategy that's efficient and effective. But have you ever considered applying this principle to your protein intake? Welcome to the world of "the minimum effective dose of protein," a concept that challenges conventional dietary norms and invites you to discover the precise amount of this vital nutrient your body truly requires for optimal health, fitness, and well-being.
In this article, we'll delve deep into the fascinating realm of protein consumption, exploring what the minimum effective dose of protein means and how it can transform your approach to nutrition. Just as in medicine, where the right dosage of a medication can provide significant benefits without unnecessary side effects, optimizing your protein intake can lead to remarkable health improvements.
Let’s dive into the topic to answer this and many more questions like what are the best sources of protein, how often should I consume them during the day, and why exactly is protein so important?
What Is Protein?
Proteins are large, complex molecules composed of polypeptide chains, each made up of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. They play a pivotal role in the structural and functional integrity of cells, tissues, and organs. Enzymes, hormones, and antibodies are just a few examples of proteins that regulate chemical reactions, convey messages, and defend against foreign invaders, respectively. Additionally, proteins are crucial for maintaining fluid balance, transporting nutrients, and facilitating muscle contraction.
Why Do We Need Protein?
Proteins, the elemental architects of biological structures and functions, play an indispensable role in maintaining the delicate balance of life within the human body. Our bodies evolved to eat and thrive on high amounts of protein. Researchers have determined that the amount of total energy intake that comes from protein is between 19% and 50% for our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Today's recommendations for the Standard American Diet (SAD) are a mere 12% of a typical day's calories. Beyond their basic function, proteins provide a plethora of health benefits that extend far beyond mere sustenance.
Muscle Protein Synthesis and Anabolism
Proteins serve as the cornerstone for muscle growth and repair through a process known as muscle protein synthesis (MPS). Essential amino acids, acquired from dietary protein, act as precursors for MPS, promoting the synthesis of new muscle fibers and facilitating the repair of damaged tissues. This anabolic process is particularly crucial for athletes, bodybuilders, and individuals engaged in regular resistance training, as it fosters muscle hypertrophy and enhances overall physical performance.
2. Protein-Induced Satiety (Helps With Weight Loss)
Protein profoundly affects appetite regulation and satiety, making it a valuable asset for weight management. When consumed, proteins trigger the release of hormones, such as peptide YY (PYY) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), that promote feelings of fullness and reduce the desire to overeat. This natural appetite suppression mechanism helps control caloric intake, supporting weight loss efforts and the maintenance of a healthy body weight. One study found that boosting protein intake from 15% to 30% resulted in eating 441 fewer calories a day. One of the most important factors in losing weight and keeping it off is getting enough protein. In fact, protein intake may be the biggest determinant of how much food you will eat.
3. Thermic Effect of Protein
The thermic effect of protein refers to the energy expenditure required for digesting, absorbing, and assimilating protein-rich foods. Compared to fats and carbohydrates, proteins have a higher thermic effect, meaning that a significant portion of the calories derived from protein is expended during the digestive process. This heightened energy expenditure contributes to the overall metabolic rate, enhancing the body's ability to burn calories and potentially aiding in weight management.
4. Collagen Formation and Tissue Integrity
Collagen, a structural protein abundant in connective tissues, serves as the foundation for healthy skin, hair, and nails. Adequate protein intake provides the essential amino acids necessary for collagen synthesis, supporting skin elasticity, hair strength, and nail integrity. Additionally, proteins contribute to the synthesis of keratin, a fibrous protein that reinforces the structure of hair and nails, promoting their growth and resilience.
5. Immune Function
Proteins, including immunoglobulins and cytokines, play a pivotal role in the immune system's defense against pathogens and infections. These proteins mediate immune responses, aiding in the identification and elimination of foreign invaders, thus bolstering the body's resilience against diseases.
6. Bone Health
Certain proteins are involved in bone remodeling processes, promoting bone formation and preventing bone loss. Collagen, again, emerges as a critical player in maintaining bone strength and structure, while other proteins regulate calcium metabolism and mineralization, crucial for overall bone health.
7. Diabetes Management
Increasing protein consumption can also play a pivotal role in effectively managing diabetes. Protein-rich foods have a minimal impact on blood sugar levels and help regulate glucose, making them a crucial component of a diabetic diet. Since protein also promotes satiety, it reduces the urge to eat high-carbohydrate and sugary snacks, which can lead to blood sugar spikes. Furthermore, since protein helps to maintain and build lean muscle mass, it subsequently improves insulin sensitivity to contribute to stable blood sugar control. These mechanisms are so effective that it’s thought that diabetes can be cured as long as enough protein is incorporated into the diet.
What Happens If You Don't Eat Enough Protein?
Here are some of the common symptoms of a low-protein diet:
Low energy or fatigue
Poor immune function
Brain fog
Inability to put on or maintain muscle
Muscle weakness
Slow athletic recovery
Fluid retention
Cravings or incessant hunger
Thinning or shedding hair
Sagging, aging skin
Dry, brittle nails
The bottom line: not enough protein is not good.
What Is The Minimum Effective Dose Of Protein?
The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for protein, often cited as the daily requirement, is 0.36 grams per pound of body weight. This number has been unchanged for 70 years and falls significantly short of what's optimal for our body's functioning. The RDA provides guidelines for meeting basic nutritional needs to prevent deficiencies but doesn't address the optimal amount for overall health. While there are many studies of protein on animals, animal and human use and digestion of protein is very different. In fact, research has shown that less than 0.45 grams (1 kilogram) of protein per day negatively impacts muscle strength and performance.
So, what is the minimum effective dose of protein?
For adults, the minimal recommended protein intake is 0.82 grams per pound of desired body weight (equivalent to 1.8 grams per kilogram) daily.
This number nearly triples the RDA's suggestions. Rounding up to 1g/pound of body weight is an easy, safe, and effective way to ensure you’re going above the minimum. For me and my 165-pound body, it would breakdown like this:
RDA Requirement (0.36g/pound of body weight) = 59.4 grams
Minimum Effective Dose (0.82g/pound) = 135.3 grams
Better (1g/pound) = 165 grams
Enormous differences.
Key Points To The Minimum Amount Of Protein Intake
What About The Amount Of Protein For Weight Loss Or Bulking?
The minimum effective dose is based on the “desired” body weight. If you are looking to gain weight and bulk up then your desired weight is higher than your current weight and you should consume more protein. If you are looking to lose weight then it’s okay to relax this number a bit.
Getting A Variety Of Amino Acids Is Important, Especially Leucine And Lysine
Protein is made up of more than 20 amino acids so It's also crucial to diversify protein sources to ensure an adequate intake of these building blocks. Peter Attia, author of Outlive, recommends getting 1 gram of pound of body weight per day while also getting an adequate amount of amino acids. To get the right doses, he suggests a shortcut: prioritize the major amino acids including leucine (3-4g/day), lysine (3-4g/day), and methionine (1+g/day). You can simplify this further by prioritizing leucine which provides a "signaling response" to the mTOR pathway, which plays a key role in regulating cell growth and protein synthesis.
While this might seem like an exceptionally high protein intake, it's essential to emphasize that our dietary habits often fall short of these optimal guidelines. Calorie calculators that assign a percentage of your diet to protein can be misleading, as consuming more fats or carbohydrates can inadvertently reduce protein intake.
Can You Consume Too Much Protein?
Most people don't need to worry about consuming too much protein because of how difficult it is to attain these amounts. These upper limits where it becomes riskier to consume protein is somewhere around 1.7 grams per pound of body limit which is an incredible amount of protein.
A 2017 review article, Acute and Long-Term Impact of High-Protein Diets on Endocrine and Metabolic Function, Body Composition, and Exercise-Induced Adaptations looked at these higher protein intakes in studies from the lens of hormonal and metabolic effects in the short- and long-term. They found that “High protein diets effectively improve body composition by acting through different pathways.”
That being said, when consuming a higher amount of protein, particularly from animal sources, it tends to be high in methionine, an amino acid that can activate the mTOR pathway, which, in excess, may be associated with reduced lifespan and accelerated aging. To balance this, it’s best to pair methionine with glycine, another amino acid known for its protective effects. An effective ratio is approximately 0.5 to 1 gram of glycine for every gram of methionine consumed. High glycine foods include:
Egg Whites
Fish Skin
Pork Rinds and Skin
I personally add glycine-rich sources like collagen to help maintain an optimal methionine-to-glycine ratio.
Consider Digestive Enzymes If You’re Older
Our ability to effectively digest food decreases as we age. For this reason, it may be difficult to break down all of the nutrients, protein included, in your stomach to efficiently achieve muscle protein synthesis. For older adults, consider taking digestive enzymes prior to eating any protein-rich food to improve your ability to break down and absorb what you eat.
What Is Most Important To Prioritize: Intake, Quality, Distribution, Or Amino Acids?
As the Protein Pyramid below illustrates, prioritize getting enough protein at first then focus on the quality of protein then the distribution throughout the day, followed by the leucine content. To determine whether you're meeting your protein needs, consider tracking your intake for a month using a dedicated app.
How To Eat Enough Protein
Now that you know how much protein you should consume, how the heck do you do it?
Frequency: How Often Should You Consume Protein?
How quickly and effectively protein is absorbed into your body depends on a variety of favorites such as your fitness level, GI function, age, genes, time of day, type of protein, etc. While as little as 5g of protein has been shown to stimulate muscle protein synthesis, this is barely a starting point. A minimum of 20g of protein should be consumed at a sitting (yes, your body can absorb more than the 20g myth). To use my 165-pound body as an example, I make sure to have about 40 grams of protein 4 times a day, spread throughout my feeding window (more on that below).
On a related note, the benefits of slamming a protein shake after a workout are overblown. While there's no harm in doing this, a meta-analysis found that this was only effective in "maximizing muscle protein accretion" insofar as you got enough protein spread throughout the day.
Type: Choose High-Quality Whole Foods And Supplements
There are two main strategies to getting adequate protein: whole foods and supplements. Prioritizing whole foods is important but this is time-consuming, expensive, and the digestiona absorption rate tends to be slower with foods. Alternatively, supplementing with protein powder and/or essential amino acids (EAA) is an effective strategy to make sure you’re hitting your minimum effective dose of protein.
Protein Source 1: Whole Foods
Animal protein has been shown to be more effective than plant protein for a number of reasons including its greater content of leucine and other amino acids and better digestibility. When choosing proteins, higher quality is best. Animals raised in environments that mirror their evolution result in better quality food.
For beef, this means cattle that are organic grass-fed and grass-finished.
For eggs, this means organic, pasture-raised eggs. Second place is free-range.
For dairy (milk, yogurt, nutter, cheese, kefir, etc), choose grass-fed and organic products. If the combination isn’t available then choose organic over grass-fed because of the higher standards and the concern for toxins in the dairy.
For fish, prioritize S.M.A.S.H. fish (Salmon, Mackerel, Anchovies, Sardines, and Herring). These fish have lower levels of toxins and higher levels of omega-3’s because they’re lower on the food chain.
Protein Source 2: Protein Powder
Protein powder has a reputation for being the sidekick to gym bros but it’s a great and convenient way to make sure you’re topping off your protein needs throughout the day. While there are a lot of types out there, whey isolate tends to be the winner due to its higher protein (90% or higher), low carbs and calories, lack of sugar or fat, and low lactose levels. Whey protein is also absorbed much faster in the body than cooked forms of protein such as eggs.
Hands down, my favorite kind is Levels Protein. There are a lot of low-quality and terrible protein powders out there made with fillers, sugar, and heavy metals. Levels has none of that. No soy, gluten, artificial sweeteners, or fillers. Plus, it contains 5.4g of BCAA (including 2.5g of the ever-important leucine), it comes from grass-fed cows, and actually tastes good (my favorite = vanilla bean).
Protein Type 3: Essential Amino Acids
Another tactic, even simpler than mixing a protein shake, is using essential amino acids (EAA). This is a great way to ensure I'm eating enough protein, getting all of my amino acids (not just the branch chain ones which oddly seem to be more popular), and still allow me to do my morning workouts in a relatively "fasted" state.
On mornings when I have a more intensive workout, particularly if it's centered around strength training or HIIT, I pop 5-10 grams of amino acids in capsule form beforehand. Capsules also offer a convenient option for a quick "snack" during the day or even later in the evening when you don't want to feel too full but still want to ensure you're meeting your protein requirements.
There are two types I like:
Kion Aminos Essential Amino Acids for capsule form
Thorne Amino Acids (Lemon) for powder form
What I Do
For most of my life I’ve eaten too little protein. It’s only been in the last 8-10 years that I’ve really put an effort into hitting my minimum effective dose of protein which comes to about 132g of protein per day, at 0.8g/pound. The biggest barrier to hitting this , aside from well, life, is timing it with my fasting.
Most mornings I’ll get in a fasted workout and then I’ll have a smoothie with 40g of protein in it. With heavier or longer workouts (lifting or HIIT) I sometimes pop 5-10g of amino acids beforehand so that I’m still technically “fasted” but still making sure I can push through instead of feeling that bonk-like heaviness toward the end.
IQ Bars for clean protein.
At lunch and dinner, I’ll hit another 40g of protein (give or take 10g) and I’ll add in a protein bar, especially on the days I lift, to round out that number. Some of my favorite clean protein bars are IQ Bars which are low-carb, low-sugar and void of seed oils (In fact, I liked them so much that I asked to be a part of their affiliate team so use MINDBODYDAD for up to 15% off). On days I don’t workout, I rely on slightly bigger meals and a protein bar/snack/smoothie to supplement. And every other week I’ll do a 24-hour fast where I don’t eat anything. Yes, including protein.
Takeaway
The minimum effective dose of protein is 0.82 grams of pound of desired body weight per day. Get this through a combination of whole foods as well as supplements in the form of whey protein powder or amino acids.
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