Nutrition – Recommended Daily Allowances Vs. Performance Daily Requirements
Hi San Antonio,
Sorry I didn’t really write anything productive yesterday, but I was fairly busy with other projects and took a little time away from the computer. But I’m back!
Yesterday, I had a conversation with a lady who is a student at a very well-respected private university here in San Antonio, and she happens to be a Biology major. As it often does with me, the conversation soon turned to exercise and nutrition. She told me that she had a nutrition class last semester, and her professor told the class that protein supplementation was a scam created by supplement companies and that consuming large amounts of protein is not only unnecessary, but highly dangerous and unhealthy. Fortunately, I’ve had this discussion several times and was able to wholeheartedly convince her that her upstanding professor was not only perpetuating myths himself, but was seriously confused about what is needed for mere survival (Recommended Daily Allowance, or RDA) and what is required for performance (Performance Daily Requirements, or PDR). Let me explain…
The RDA that is popularly listed on food labels in this country gives the amounts that you need to stay alive and avoid malnourishment if you are completely inactive. They list the requirements based on both 2000 and (in some cases) 2500 calorie diets – meaning if you required that many calories to live, these are the amounts and percentages of different nutrients (both macronutrients like protein, carbs, fat and micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals). Of course, this is scalable, because an inactive 100 pound individual requires far less calories than a 250 pound individual. From memory, I believe the RDA suggest something along the lines of .8g of protein per kilogram of body weight, or roughly .8g per 2.2lbs of body weight.
When you’re training (whether your goals are fat loss or muscle gain), your nutritional requirements are far elevated. When you exercise, you inflict damage to muscles that needs to be repaired, and increasing protein intake assists in this process. It is also to preserve muscle mass when focusing on fat loss; again, an increase in dietary protein is paramount for this to occur.
From personal and professional experience, I have several instances why .8g/2.2lbs isn’t enough protein to transform the body. First and foremost, neither of the above goals are fulfilled. Also, these “ratios” and dietary recommendations are simply for “weight loss” and aren’t designed with actually looking better in mind. Remember – there is a difference between actually losing weight and transforming the body, or “recomposing” the body, as I like to say. Weight loss means absolutely nothing if you aren’t losing only body fat. You can lose 20lbs and not change your body fat percentage at all – or even worse, your body fat could actually increase if muscle is lost! On the other hand, you could gain 10lbs and your body fat percentage could drop several points. Weight loss in itself is a pretty basic way of thinking and while I think people that are morbidly obese need to get weight off rapidly for their joints and organs, 95% of the people looking to “lose weight” should actually be thinking along the lines of losing body fat. This is what transforming the body is all about. Sorry to go off the subject there, but I can’t beat this home hard enough.
How much protein for performance? Of course, the types of activities and goals vary, but I believe the lower your carbohydrate intake is inversely effects how much protein you consume. With that being said, the ranges I often recommend are typically between 0.8g-1.2g of protein per POUND (yes, 1lb) of body weight, with that number going as high as 1.5g-2.0g in some extreme cases. There’s another factor – a gram of protein is not a gram of protein (meaning that every gram of protein is not created equally). Due to the varying amino acid levels in different types of protein, you could be consuming enough protein but could be deficient in one or several amino acids. I’ll break that down in a few minutes.
Remember that carbohydrates are the primary source of energy in the muscles in the form of glucose (which, coincidentally, is also what feeds the brain via the liver). When carbohydrate intake is drastically decreased, the body has an alternate source for glucose. The “popular” belief is that the body will rapidly begin to consume fat for energy, but understand that this is not as simple as a process as people think. The body will first look at the muscles for the amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine (or the BCAAs), as these three aminos are rapidly convertible to glucose. Remember that there are 2 main types of amino acids: essential amino acids (aminos that the body cannot produce on its own and must be obtained from the diet) and non-essential amino acids (aminos that can by produced by the body). In some cases, non-essential aminos can become “conditionally essential” – this occurs when they are used up faster than the body can produce them. That could (and probably will) be another article here on the blog in the near future.
During the stresses of training, cardio and hardcore dieting, it’s important to understand that there are many processes like the one above where the body will burn up certain amino acids at a faster rate than others. Combining this with the fact that different foods have different amounts of aminos, it’s important to actually micromanage AMINO intake (versus just shooting for a certain amount of protein) to ensure that all essential amino acids are present as often as possible. This isn’t some radical, off the wall idea. If you’ve ever heard of nitrogen balance or protein synthesis, well, this is the heart of it. Nitrogen balance is binary – yes or no, on or off. If your body has all the amino acids present, then it can begin to synthesize protein for repair and muscle building. If one, and I mean ONE amino is deficient, then nitrogen balance is negative, and the body isn’t using protein for what it is intended for.
The amount of each amino acid that is required varies greatly from individual to individual based on many factors such as activity levels and other factors (disease, metabolism, food intake, etc). Another issue that we run into is that not only do the amino acid profiles in different foods vary, but actual charts are listing aren’t required by the FDA, and only some supplement companies include this information on their protein products (thank you to the ones that do).
Lean meats will provide you with the basis of essential amino acids that you need. Supplementing with a quality protein blend (I prefer a casein blend with other types of protein such as egg, whey protein isolate, etc) will also help you ensure you’re getting the essential aminos that you need. I also wholeheartedly support BCAA supplementation as well (note: they taste terrible in most products).
One more note: many in the land of academia (and quite a few doctors) perpetuate the absolute myth that high protein consumption will lead to kidney failure. Let me be blunt and perfectly clear on this: there has never (and I mean ever) been a study that shows that HEALTHY individuals (and take that a step further and include the water intake that I recommend) have any protein intake limits. The side effects that most bring up (heart disease, blood pressure) are often associated with the consumption of fatty meats (such as whole cut steaks and such) and don’t consider the lean meats and protein products that are recommended in lean diets. Exercising and eating a diet low in saturated fats and loaded with nutrients is not the same as hamming down on a big steak or cheeseburger every night.
In closing, my friend told me that her professor happened to be a bit on the obese side… Just as I would not go to a dentist with bad teeth or let a barber with bad hair cut my hair (I actually shave my head, but you get the point), I’m going to have a really hard time taking nutritional advice from someone who doesn’t practice what they preach.
My business is body transformation, maximizing health and last, but definitely not least, performance. When it comes to changing the body and optimal nutritional intake, the RDA listings are completely obsolete.
Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
16613 Huebner Road
210.391.1454
