Protein guidelines

[angelaf]

Hi,

Maybe this question has already been asked before, but I'd like some clarification on the guideline for daily intake of protein.

I've read several times in various posts on the site, and even on some other websites that a rough estimate of protein intake is approx 1g per lb of body weight. However I've also read several other sites that it's approx 1g per kg of body weight. So using one guideline over another would make quite a large difference in protein intake!

Can anyone shed some light for me?

Thanks
Angela

 

[maleficent]

Spend some time reading the stickied threads -this question has been asked before...

The suggested guideline is 1g per 1lb of lean body mass...

YOur lean body mass is not your current body weight...

How much protein are you currently getting and what are your current stats?

In my non-expert opinion, as long as your protein consumption is reasonable as compared to the rest of your diet -then you don't need to get too obsessive about the actual number of grams...

 

[Steve]

If you're not lifting weights and eating a balanced diet, it will be much less than 1 gram per pound of lean body mass.

1 gram per pound of LBM is the high end. Actually I'd say 1.5 grams per pound of LBM is the high end.

But the literature is split on this and many RDs don't agree with that. Many RDs also don't look good naked either, lol.

 

[angelaf]

Spend some time reading the stickied threads -this question has been asked before...

The suggested guideline is 1g per 1lb of lean body mass...

I've read a lot of the posts on here after searching the word "protein" and I've also read the stickied threads many times, but I was still confused. I think I must have skipped over the words lean body mass when reading some of the posts. heh So yes, that would definitely make a difference, and would make the guideline closer to the 0.8-1.0 per kilogram that I've read elsewhere.

In my non-expert opinion, as long as your protein consumption is reasonable as compared to the rest of your diet -then you don't need to get too obsessive about the actual number of grams...

Oh agreed, I'm not really obsessive at all, I was just curious about it after reading some suggesting per pound and some per kilogram.

Thanks!