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How to Get Enough Protein in Your Diet and Why It's Essential for Muscles, Bones, and Health · Stacked Intent: Your Guide to Authentic, Intentional Living

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Hello all and welcome to the Stacked Intent Podcast.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I am Becca Stackhouse Morrison and I look forward to having you join us as we go along with relationships, finance, and nutrition.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to look at the DNA of how you can take those life and dreams that may be stuck scattered and help give you some resources for mapping out a plan.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: My background is social sciences, and I have a certification for family life education.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I look forward to sharing those with you throughout the podcast.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to have lots of fun.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: As you tune in each week to become authentically you, you're going to look at the ways that you can be your authentic self and be intentional with yourself.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you're going to finish each episode being motivated to live your life more authentically.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: But in these specific episodes, we are going to have a special co-host, and we're going to let her introduce herself.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, my name is Ashley Garin, and I'm a University of Georgia Family and Consumer Sciences Extension agent for both Kaimler and Evans counties in the southeastern part of the state of Georgia.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited to be here today, and I have a background in nutrition from an education standpoint and then also from a community standpoint.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: And this is something I'm super passionate about, and I'm excited to work with Becca to talk more about being intentional in the food that you choose and the things that you put into your body.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to another episode of Stacked Intent.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Today we are going to be focusing on protein, and we're going to be talking about it with Ashley.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, Ashley, what are objectives of talking about protein?
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: So, today we are going to talk about the importance of protein in your diet, why we have to have it.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: We'll talk about some sources of protein, where can you get it from, and then we'll also talk about some individual protein needs.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: So the importance of protein in our diets and our healthy eating.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Why is protein even important?
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: Protein is necessary for your diet due to its role in supporting healthy bones, muscles, cartilage, and skin.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: So sometimes we may think about protein as being just for people that are trying to put on muscle or bodybuilding or weightlifters.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: But protein is important for everyone because it's part of your building blocks for your cells.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: So proteins do serve as a building block, and that's evidenced by the fact that it fuels our cells and powers our bodies, not just for somebody that is interested in building more muscle.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: So while we do typically associate protein with muscle building or weightlifters or athletes, protein is an important thing for every single person.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: And they do play some roles that are more subtle but equally important.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: And it is.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, have you ever started your day where you just decide, oh, I'm just gonna eat a muffin?
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, when I do that, I don't feel as good as if I eat some kind of like sausage or egg to start my day.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: That makes me feel much better.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's because protein does help to provide a more of a feeling or satiated um response.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: So it takes our body longer to digest it than it does if you eat just carbohydrates, which carbs are kind of our body's main source of energy.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the the first thing that it's gonna burn to provide energy for our cells and for our metabolism and our daily function.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but once you've kind of burnt through your carbohydrate supply, then that's when it starts to go to fats and and protein.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but protein, it takes a lot longer for your body to digest it.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: So it does help you to feel fuller for longer.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Which is important, especially when you're starting the day or you're feeding little ones to start their day.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like sending them to school with a high sugar breakfast is not gonna help them make it to lunch as well as sending them on a higher protein breakfast.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: And and protein is it's required in such large amounts for our body that it's considered a macronutrient, which means that um we gotta have a lot of it.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: So there are three different macronutrients in your diet, and those are carbohydrates, fat, and protein.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: So, like I said, your body's first um preference is to burn through some of those carbohydrates, but we do need fat and protein in large amounts too, for health and benefit, and just to support your daily function.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: So, but your body also can't store protein, like it does fat and carbohydrates that it can pull from to use as energy as needed.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: So it's important to consume adequate amounts daily to meet your needs and support wound healing and repair, but not eating too much, because if you overconsume, then your body will um, as we say, we can't store it as energy, but it'll it'll the excess will be stored as fat.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: So it is important to make sure that you identify your specific protein needs um and how they meet your goals, but then also coupling that with exercise um and physical activity too.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, and it's important because especially if you are doing exercises, then your body has to have some of this to replenish itself.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, it's you're not gonna feel great.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so what's interesting to me is especially in the world of jujitsu, where sometimes we're MMA, where sometimes people are cutting weight to get to a certain weight for a weight division or class, it's been interesting to watch people of like they'll cut their diet so down that they even cut the protein out and then they feel real bad, and their body can't recover from the two a day because it's not getting enough of the resources to be able to do that healing and repair process.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: So it's important for an athlete, but it's also important for us in our every single day.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like your body's got to have it for that healing and that repairing.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: And if if we don't eat enough of it, then like you said, that your your muscles are not going to grow, but ultimately the rest of your body's not gonna be able to function the way that it's need that it needs to.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: So whether you're a professional athlete or not, you still have to have protein um to support your daily functions.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: So that kind of rolls us into our second topic, which is sources of protein.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: So, Becca, what are some of your favorite ways to get protein?
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of times it's poultry.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's where I get a lot of mine from.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: Or I get if I'm struggling with micro's and absorbing foods, I turn to smoothies because my body can absorb it from a smoothie better.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so I put protein powder or I put a peanut butter powder in and I increase the protein that goes into a smoothie.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: So those are the two big places that I tend to get more protein from.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, perfect.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: So you mentioned two great sources.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: So you said animal sources, so that's your your poultry, and that you also mentioned maybe some plant-based sources too.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: So, like your peanut butter powder.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: So both of those are great.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: So protein, we do typically think about it as coming from meat or animal sources, and animal sources are considered to be complete proteins, which means that they can contain all nine essential amino acids, which is important.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of technical, but just know that it's a complete protein because there are nine amino acids that our body cannot produce itself.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: So we need to get those from the food that we consume.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: But not all cuts of meat are created equal.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so they've got red meats, which you've probably heard of before, um, have been associated with higher risk of certain chronic diseases and cancer.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: But red meats are beef, pork, and lamb.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: And red meats are considered to be red meats because they're higher in myoglobin than white meats like poultry and fish, which is what it's found in the animal muscle, and that's what produces that red coloration when it when it meets or is exposed to oxygen.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: So um, and it's interesting too about like pork.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes people will will confuse it with white meat.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, even though it does turn to kind of a white, lighter color once it's cooked, like the flesh looks white, um, it is still considered nutritionally to be a red meat and still falls into that category of things that we need to limit um in order to reduce our risk for those certain chronic diseases and cancers.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Which is interesting.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like so within our house, we learned that so because I don't really eat red meat because it doesn't work within my eating of with my Crohn's, I think like it probably was at least six or seven weeks of me and my husband being together.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: And he looked at me one day and he was like, um, could we incorporate red meat in some way?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we don't have to do it a lot, but because I hadn't bought it in so long, I didn't even think about it.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Didn't even cross my mind.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's definitely one of those of like you've really got to be able to be in tune to what your body needs as well.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because not everybody needs the same things in the same quantities in the same ways.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like if you're sitting there and you're serving dinner, not everybody needs the same portion sizes, and so that's the same thing here.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so when you are planning out what your sources of protein are gonna be when you're going to the store or you buy a quarter of a cow, I mean, that's what we've started doing, and it works great, but you've got to be able to plan that out.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we need this much of for protein this week, and so that's helpful when you're planning.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and your your white meats like poultry and fish, they offer protein without the added unnecessary saturated fat and cholesterol.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: So that's one thing that we we typically talk about when it comes to red meat consumption, it's just it's higher, typically higher in saturated fat and cholesterol, which is not good for your heart health.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why we recommend trying to incorporate white meats, like I said, poultry, fish, uh, more often if you can, because they do have the added benefits of of having protein and all those essential amino acids without the unnecessary stuff that you don't need.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: And then the other side of that coin is talking about plants.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: So you mentioned like the peanut butter powder, but what are some other plant-based sources of proteins that maybe you um in your house enjoy?
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: Some of it can be from our vegetables, but also it can be from eating the whole nuts or some beans, seeds.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: There, I mean, there are lots of places that you can get it from, but it definitely can come from some of those vegetables, some of those whole grains, your beans.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Is your brother still vegan?
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: He has actually become selectively vegan.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well, he's that he adds in uh seafood, so like tuna and some fishes.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: That pescatarian.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and then he added he's added in eggs because he was fine and he just needed a little bit more in his exercise.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: So he added in eating, added in seafood.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Gotcha.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I was gonna say he's probably very familiar with how to to incorporate some of the plant-based protein sources.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: So, like you mentioned, beans, peas, lentils, nuts, seeds are all great sources.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, some of my favorites are chickpeas and also pumpkin seeds, which have the benefit of the added benefit of being good in those unsaturated fats, which are the the healthy fats for us, too.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: So there's also soy products like tofu and your soy-based dairy alternatives, um, which provide good sources of protein too.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: But one thing to think about when it comes to plant-based proteins is that they are considered incomplete.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: So earlier when we mentioned about animal sources being complete proteins because they have all nine essential amino acids in them naturally, plant sources don't.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: So you have to you have to be considered about combinations.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: So you can combine different sources in order to get a complete protein.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you can get all those amino acids by doing things like beans and rice.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: So we'll talk about those um in our next next point here.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: So but yeah, like plant-based the the great thing about plant-based proteins too is they're typically less expensive.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they're more shelf stable, and they can be, they can kind of be thrown onto anything.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: So, like you can do a salad, there's some chickpeas on there.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um when it comes to grocery shopping, your protein is typically gonna be like your animal protein is gonna be the most expensive thing or one of the most expensive things on your receipt.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: So if you are really trying to cut costs for your family or to budget well, um, you can incorporate some more of these plant-based sources.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: It also helps you incorporate some variety.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Incorporating some of these helps give you some variety because adding something like a hummus that you can have some protein in, you can eat that with a vegetable, like a summer.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, cucumbers are a great one and they're now in season.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, like just looking at things like that, like you can really add some variety to your diet.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not necessarily a person that loves to eat like chicken broccoli rice every day.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I repeat things like that so many times.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: So it helps give you some different varieties within what you're eating, and so that's important.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: But what's also important is you've got to look at that side of our third topic: what are protein needs?
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, how do we kind of figure out what our protein needs are?
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: So, your protein needs are gonna vary depending on a couple of different factors.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: So, your age, your weight, your activity level, and also your goals.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: So, on average, as a good rule of thumb, your protein should account for about 10 to 35 percent of your calories.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: So, if you're following a 2,000 calorie-a-day diet, which is is not suitable for everyone, but if you just for example, um if you are, then that's about 50 to 175 grams per day.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: So, if you think about 175 grams of protein, that can seem a little overwhelming, but the recommendation is to consume about 30 grams of protein per meal.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: So if you think about the variety like you were talking about with the plant-based sources, you can eat an animal-based protein source, um, but then you can incorporate some of those plant-based sources as well.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: And things like even our dairy products like Greek yogurt, um, a serving of Greek yogurt has on average about 16 grams of protein.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a lot of ways that you can get additional protein in your diet without just eating a hunk of meat.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: So, um, but your needs are gonna be different.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: So, one thing that you're that's important to remember is again, your body can't store protein.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: So, if you consume more than you use, the extra will be stored as fat.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: So, that's why it's important to determine what your needs are.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, it's important, like knowing what your needs are helps you fulfill, and it's also gonna maybe help you understand why you might feel a certain way in the day.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's one thing to take note of and really look at that relationship that you have with your nutrition is are you not giving your body enough of what it needs?
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: So, is that why you have a crash in the afternoon, or you struggle when you go work out, or you struggle when you're waking up and you start your day with just a cup of coffee but no breakfast, you skip the breakfast.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: Are those the reasons because you're not giving your body that protein need?
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so what can you do to kind of help tune into that?
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: And this is a start of looking at what you need specific to your body and knowing that you're not the same as everybody else that's in your household that's eating.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're over age 40, um, speaking about people in your household, I need to make sure that my my husband is aware of this one too.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: But if you're over age 40, your muscle mass does begin to decrease as just a natural part of aging.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: So there's something called sarcopenia, and that's just kind of natural muscle atrophy.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: So our body starts to break down the older that we get.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you may need to increase your protein intake slightly to support what's being lost.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not that you're doing anything differently, it's just that naturally your body starts to break down.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: So you want to make sure that you are replacing that.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you may need to increase your protein intake slightly.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, without adequate muscle mass, you could be increased risk for falls and fractures, especially as you age and later in life.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, but that's that's something to consider and to maybe talk with your healthcare provider and figure out hey, am I really eating enough protein on a daily basis to support where I'm at for my particular age?
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: But then lastly, your physical activity.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: So that's going to be a big factor in calculating your needs.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: So if you do lift weights or if you're training for a race or for an event, the recommendation is to increase your protein to about 1.2 to 1.7 grams per kilogram in addition to what you're already eating of body of body weight each day.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: So going back, on average, if you were to do that 50 to 175 grams, um, there's a calculation that you can do.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: So if you literally just Google protein needs calculation, it's gonna ask you about your, there's a little calculator, um, and it's gonna ask you about your your age, it's gonna ask you about your weight, and it'll ask you about your physical activity level.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so based on those things, it will put together a or give you spit out basically a number for you what your your needs are gonna be.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: So that that's gonna be on an individual basis.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I would I would recommend that that's something that you do um to just enter in those numbers or put in that information so you can figure out exactly what that range is for you.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: So it may not be you don't consume the same amount every single day, but you want to stay within that range um to support your health.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: And it's important.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is where sometimes that like pre-thought pre-planning comes into play a little bit because you've got to kind of, I mean, you've got to plan a little bit.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: And eating out versus eating at home can also contribute to this.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: Cause if you're eating a lot of your protein out, you may also be adding in some things that you don't necessarily want, like sugars and salts and um saturated fats.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: There might be things that you're consuming that you can just simply leave out at home and it's not a big deal.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you do have a lot more control um if you are if you're picking the protein whenever you're at your house or at your at home, and the way that it's prepared does play a big factor in it too.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: So you may be getting the protein um and hitting those goals for your macronutrients, but you may be sacrificing in other areas by, like you said, consuming too much sodium, saturated fat, um, total cholesterol, and things like that.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: But the last thing I will say is you also have to remember that just eating the protein and bulking up on your protein is not going to build muscle.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: So you also have to incorporate your physical activity and put in the work.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: And the the protein is there to support your recovery.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: So as we as we exercise and your muscle fibers essentially tear, and the protein is there to help repair um and help them grow back stronger, those fibers grow back stronger and maybe bigger.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's not just gonna happen if you just if you just increase your protein intake um without increasing the amount of workload that you're you're doing too.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: Which is so interesting.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so it's just being really aware and it may start that you've just got to look at what that relationship with food is that you have.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: That might be where you have to start so that you can then incorporate your protein into healthy ways.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so we really hope that this discussion today has helped you understand why protein is important in your everyday, what some sources could be.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe we gave you an idea that you haven't had for a source of protein, and then really looking at your needs, and we'll put a link for the protein needs calculator in the notes.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so go figure out exactly what your needs are and remember that that's different for everybody, and that is okay.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, Ashley, what would we call people to do after they've listened to this episode today?
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: So, the call to action today would be to calculate your own protein needs and also bonus to track your food intake for one to two weeks to see if you're actually consuming adequate amounts of protein based off of your estimated needs.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because it can be very interesting of like, wait, I thought I was consuming enough and I'm not really.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's like the same thing as spending.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't necessarily look at every anything you ever output in spending, you may think that you're great and on track until you open up that credit card statement.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: So it your food's no different, any of that.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you guys for joining us today on our episode of Stacked Intent to focus on your protein.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: That brings us to the end of this episode of Stacked Intent.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: If you love this episode as much as I did, head on over and rate and subscribe so you will never miss an episode.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: New episodes are gonna be dropped on Thursdays.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: Until then, this is Becca, and don't forget, enrich your life by being intentional.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast was created, produced, recorded, and edited by Stacked Intention.