Protein is an important nutrient in your diet. It’s constituents called amino acids are essential for the growth and maintenance of every cell of your body. The body uses protein to build and repair muscles, red blood cells, and other tissues. Without adequate protein in your diet, your muscles would waste away.
According to fitness experts Suzanne Schlosberg and Liz Neporent, inactive people need to eat about 0.4 gram of protein for every 1 pound of body weight. Thus if you are 160 pounds and a non-exerciser, you would need to eat 64 grams of protein a day. Exercisers do need more protein at 0.5 to 0.75 gram per 1 pound of body weight, and a competitive athlete may require as much as 0.9.
Going back to our example, if you weigh 160 pounds and regularly exercise, you would need 120 grams of protein a day (using 0.75) and if you’re a competitive athlete, that number goes up to 144 grams.
This protein requirement may be easily obtained from food. A 6 oz. steak cut contains 42 grams while a 3.5 oz. chicken breast contains 30 grams. If you are on a budget or want to avoid saturated fat, you may eat grains combined with legumes, say rice with beans, to get all essential amino acids.
And what about those expensive protein supplements? There is a huge debate about this but if you are getting enough quality protein in your diet, many experts believe that supplements are unnecessary and will only produce expensive urine.