How Much Dietary Proteins Will Prevent Muscle Loss Need of Protein & Loss of Muscle – Dr.Berg

So I wanted to do this , video on protein because it's a common confusion with so many people .

We're gonna answer the question , how much dietary protein do you need to consume to prevent the loss of muscle ?

But let me just talk about 1 piece of this problem at a time .

Okay .

The RDAs .

The , recommended dietary allowance for protein is point 8 grams of protein per kilogram in weight .

Okay now I'm from the US so we don't use kilogram , we don't use grams as much , we use pounds .

So if you're from other parts of the world this would make sense to you .

But if you're from the US , this is gonna make more sense , this formula which is basically 0.36 times your pounds .

Okay .

So I weigh a £185 .

So I would times point 36 times 185 and that comes out to 67 grams of protein per day .

That's how much I'm supposed to consume .

Okay .

There's many problems with this recommendation , which I'll get into .

But that's , the minimum amount that I would need .

Now if we just take a steak for example .

Okay ?

A 100 grams of steak , which is a little over 3 ounces .

Let's just say it's 3 ounces to make it simple .

Realize that this 100 gram weight of steak only gives us 25 grams of actual protein because most of it is water .

Now this might be shocking to you .

You're only getting a small portion of that being protein .

And now if we take it 1 step further , and I'm not gonna even talk about the absorption of the protein , I'll talk about that in the next slide , but I'm talking about how much of this protein actually turns into muscle or body tissue ?

This is number 2 , turning into body tissue .

Well , let's take a look at the type of protein first .

We've got breast milk , which actually 49% of breast milk turns into body tissue .

Eggs , 48% .

That means 52% of those eggs do not turn into body tissue .

They're either used as fuel or is just wasted , okay , through the urine .

And eggs are at the top of the list because we really can't get access to breast milk .

Alright .

So now we have meat , fish , poultry , 32% .

Okay .

So that's even lower .

So you could imagine how much waste is occurring when you consume meat and fish .

So if we take 25 grams , okay , and then we take 32% of that , which comes out to , roughly a little more than 7 grams .

Okay .

So now we're getting with the actual amount of protein that's turning in the body tissue .

7 grams .

So the RDAs are very confusing because are they talking about actual absorption ?

Or are they talking about turning in the body tissue ?

It's almost impossible to find this information .

I have not found it .

Okay .

All I know is that out of the steak , you're only getting like 7 grams .

K .

Which is a very small amount .

Now you might be thinking , well , I'll just eat more protein .

Yes .

Okay .

You could do that .

But realize , with that extra protein comes more waste and comes more product as fuel .

Okay .

So it can turn into sugar , so you have that aspect .

I'm not saying it's going to be a big problem for blood sugars , but I'm just saying that , you're not getting as much as you think turning into body tissue .

Then when we get into dairy , like cheese or whey , you're only getting 17% of that turning in the body tissue .

It's even less .

Egg whites without the yolk .

Look at that .

That's actually 16% .

So it just goes to show you how important it is to consume protein in its whole form with fat .

You do not want to consume lean protein , as in whey .

You want to do natural the whole package , the fat and the protein at the same time .

Look at soy , 17% .

So the egg whites and soy are very low on the list .

So you could imagine if this was , soy and you'd take 17% of that , so it's just a fraction .

Spirulina is only 6% , not very much .

Now in a recent video I did , I talked about actually taking essential amino acids in addition to your own protein .

And the reason I like that is that it can give you a 99% effect on turning into body tissue with only a 1% waste .

So presently , I'm doing that to enhance my protein amounts .

Okay .

So let's look at the next slide .

This has to do with the other variables , that influence your proteins .

Number 1 , absorption .

This is why it's very difficult to determine how much protein an average person needs .

I'm gonna give you some ideas in a bit , but let's first talk about some of the other barriers you're gonna run into .

Number 1 , insulin resistance .

Most people have a problem with this .

They're not able to absorb the amino acids because they they have insulin resistance .

But as you start getting on keto and intermittent fasting , that improves so you're absorbing more amino acids .

Now the other problem with that is that you're not consuming as much carbohydrates , which means your insulin is also going lower .

It's becoming more effective , but it's going lower .

And insulin is an anabolic hormone .

So it actually helps you make protein .

So with some people , especially if they're exercising , we may wanna keep their carbs at 50 grams instead of 20 .

Okay ?

Which will actually give them a little more insulin to keep up with the activity .

But people that are not exercising would do much better at a smaller amount , let's say 20 grams .

Because first of all they're not gonna need as much protein .

And if we keep the carbs low , they'll do fine with the small amount of insulin .

So it really there's just a lot of things going on here .

So we have insulin resistance , we have the amount of stomach acid that a person has .

Most , everyone over the age of 50 , especially when they get to 60 , 70 , 80 , they start losing their stomach acid .

Now they can't even break down the protein at the stomach level .

So they're gonna nearly always be protein deficient .

And it shows up in the loss of collagen , poor , joint function , fatigue , and sagging skin .

Now , if the person has a problem with their pancreas , let's say they're diabetic and their pancreas is exhausted because the pancreas makes insulin and other hormones , but it also makes enzymes .

So if the pancreas is exhausted , you're not gonna produce the enzymes to break down , protein as well .

So the combination of the enzymes in the stomach and the acid and then the enzymes in the pancreas all help in the breakdown of protein .

So this could be a deficiency just with that .

This is why a lot of people do better when they take enzymes .

Okay .

Bacteria .

Let's say your friendly bacteria is not there because you took antibiotics or you've eaten a lot of GMO foods , which destroy the microbes .

That alone can interfere with your absorption of protein right there .

And by the way , bacteria help you make , amino acids and proteins .

Okay .

Gut function .

So if you had gastric bypass or you had some surgery , that's gonna greatly influence your ability to absorb protein too .

If you had celiac where your little absorptive villi are now gone , you're not gonna absorb protein or nutrients as much .

So the gut function is very important .

If you have inflammation in your gut , that's also gonna stop the absorption of protein .

Okay .

So then we have , of course surgery .

I just mentioned that with the gastric bypass .

Or let's say you had some surgery in your colon .

That's going to influence your absorption .

Then we have the quality of protein .

Okay .

I'm talking about this right here .

These the type of protein and , of course , the grass fed or the organic .

So the quality of protein is very , very important .

And then the quantity of protein , like how much is too much .

And then you get the exercise .

The more you exercise , the more protein you're gonna need .

K ?

So you need a little bit more if you if you're an athlete .

And then your age .

As you age , you lose your stomach acid .

So you do need a little more protein to compensate for all the things that are going on as you age .

And I think , a lot of people as they get older are protein deficient .

And they would greatly benefit from an amino acid product because these amino acids are already broken down .

They're not in the protein form so they're very easy to absorb .

Okay .

Illness .

Alright .

The if you have some type of chronic , degenerative disease or illness , you're gonna need more amino acids .

So this could increase the requirement as well .

Also the liver function , if you have a fatty liver , cirrhosis , hepatitis , all of those conditions are going to inhibit your ability to absorb protein .

So the more damage you have in the liver and the kidney is going to increase the need .

The problem is the more protein you consume , the more waste you're gonna have .

And if your kidneys or liver are damaged , you're going to overload the body with too much waste .

So it's kind of a catch 22 .

That would be a good example of taking an amino acid product to supplement , with .

So now the question is what quantity , should you consume ?

Okay .

So I recommend instead of 0.8 you do 0.9 or 1.0 or maybe even 1.1 grams of protein per kilogram of weight .

That way at least you're gonna cover some of these other problems that might come up .

And also , if you keep the quality of protein high , the need of protein won't be as high .

Alright .

Hope that didn't confuse you even more .

Stay tuned for some more videos on this because there's a lot more to talk about .

But thanks for watching .

Oh , 1 last thing , because someone's going to ask this .

What you can do if you're not sure about kilograms , is you take your weight , okay , in pounds .

Okay .

So I'm 185 .

And you divide by 2.2 to get the kilograms .

Okay .

So you take the kilograms and then you times 1.0 , This is the amount of , protein you're gonna need times 1.0 to get the amount of protein that you need in grams .

Okay ?

So just take your weight , divide it by 2.2 to get your kilograms .

So now you can multiply it times , the amount of protein .

Oh , now this could be , point 9 or , you know , 1.1 .

But I would just to make it easy you can start right here .

And then comes the question , how do you really know you're getting the right amount of protein ?

You're gonna have to test it out .

You're gonna have to eat a little bit more or a little less and see how you feel .

How do your joints feel ?

How does your energy feel ?

That's probably gonna be the best thing .

Alright .

Now we're officially done with the video .