is best. Following are some examples of food servings that provide
these amounts of protein:
- For a 175-pound person, the daily protein intake may be
128 grams. The protein foods that would provide this
include three eggs and cheese at breakfast, a salad with a
hefty serving of turkey at lunch and salmon for dinner. - For a 145-pound person, the requirement may be about
106 grams: two eggs for breakfast, a chef’s salad for lunch
and a sirloin steak for dinner. - And for the person weighing 125 pounds, who would
minimally require about 90 grams of protein: two eggs at
breakfast, tuna salad for lunch and lamb for dinner.
If you’re 200 pounds or more, or appreciably under 125 pounds,
just estimate the protein requirements based on the above numbers.
For example, at 200 pounds, that’s 25 percent heavier, so 25 percent
more than 128 grams of protein is 160 grams.
Clearly, eating more protein than the body can utilize can be
unhealthy. But if you require more than 100 grams a day, that’s not
excessive, it’s what your body needs. Eating the amount of protein
your body requires is not a high-protein diet, it’s getting your proper
requirements!
Sometimes, when unhealthy people consume normal amounts of
protein they won’t feel good because something else is wrong. For
example, as protein intake increases, so does your need for water,
which helps eliminate the normal by-products of protein through the
kidneys. That’s part of the old argument that protein is a stress on the
kidneys; it most certainly is if you are dehydrated.
Or, if you’re under significant stress and your stomach does not
make sufficient amounts of natural hydrochloric acid — the first
chemical stage of protein digestion — protein digestion can be a prob-
lem that could give you symptoms of intestinal distress. Addressing
the cause of the problem — the stress and stomach, not the protein —
is the best remedy. Or, another potential protein problem may occur if
84 • IN FITNESS AND IN HEALTH