{"id":211709,"date":"2025-10-19T20:32:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T20:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/211709\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T20:32:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T20:32:09","slug":"how-much-protein-do-you-actually-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/211709\/","title":{"rendered":"How Much Protein Do You Actually Need?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThose that are trying to lose weight may want a higher protein intake to help with muscle retention,\u201d he said. Physical activity also plays a huge role: If you\u2019re lifting weights, that presents a need to increase your protein intake\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC2117006\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">same with cardio workouts<\/a>, like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gq.com\/story\/best-treadmills-for-runners\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">treadmill training<\/a> or a few rounds on your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gq.com\/story\/best-budget-rowing-machine\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">rowing machine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>There are diminishing returns when you consume too much protein, and he generally advises a maximum of 1.6 grams per kilogram of bodyweight. (Roughly five chicken thighs.) \u201cOnce you start getting above that level, the benefits are less certain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Going past 2 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight, Mills said, also may contribute to increased fat stores, \u201cbecause our bodies are not able to utilize a surplus amount of protein for fuel,\u201d she said. Focusing too much on protein can also push other important things off our plate.<\/p>\n<p>Since many protein sources are animal-based, they tend to be higher in fat than carbohydrate-containing foods, she added, which means upping protein can mean upping fat, \u201cwhich can negatively affect cardiovascular health,\u201d Mills said. And protein-at-all-costs can crowd out other valuable nutrients: \u201cThe more protein we consume, the less likely we are to consume a balanced amount of other food groups including carbohydrates, fruits, and vegetables, which are pertinent for energy, rich in fiber, vitamins, and help prevent against chronic diseases.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>While foods that contain all nine essential amino acids\u2014also known as \u201ccomplete proteins\u201d\u2014are typically consumed via meat, fish, dairy, and eggs, Mills noted that soy, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, chia seeds, hemp seeds, and nutritional yeast are all complete plant-based proteins.<\/p>\n<p>And don\u2019t let the name fool you. \u201cIncomplete\u201d proteins, like beans, peas, nuts, and vegetables, she said, \u201ctypically contain many of the vitamins and minerals our bodies require to function at an optimal level.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThose that are trying to lose weight may want a higher protein intake to help with muscle retention,\u201d&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[1991,102,6636,9012,56,54,55,307,7268],"class_list":{"0":"post-211709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-food","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-nutrition","11":"tag-textbelowcenterfullbleed","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom","15":"tag-web","16":"tag-wellness"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}