Are You Low In Protein? The Early Signs to Watch For

Transcript:

Melanie: Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition. I'm Melanie Beasley, a Registered and Licensed Dietitian with Nutritional Weight & Wellness, and today we'll be answering your questions about protein or how to know if you're getting enough protein to feel your best.

And at Nutritional Weight & Wellness, we've been talking about eating adequate real food protein at every meal and snack for decades. And if you've been listening to us, you've heard us talk about this. The reason is we see what it does for your metabolism, your strength, your immune health, and your mood, and basically your everyday energy.

So today we'll cover how much protein you actually need, the best options for protein and tips for how to fit it all in. I know it's trending in social media.

Britni: Sure is.

Melanie: Protein, protein, protein. There are clear protein drinks, there are protein powders, there are protein beverages.

Britni: Protein everything.

Melanie: Everything. And with me today, you hear a voice, Britni Vincent, who's also a Registered and Licensed Dietitian, and we are excited to talk about protein again.

Britni: Yes, thank you, Melanie. You know, protein is one of those nutrients people think they're getting enough of. But when we actually look at food logs, many people are falling short of their ideal ranges. It's quite rare to have somebody come in for the first time and they're already eating enough protein.

Melanie: I agree. And the older people get, I feel like the less protein they eat. I had a client today and she just is not getting protein in. And she said sometimes I'm just home. I'm tired, I don't want to, and she knows how to eat. We've been client/nutritionist together for years and she said sometimes I'll just make popcorn now. So kind of slips sliding into the old eating patterns.

Britni: Yep, I hear that too. Or you know, they start eating just two meals a day and it's hard to get enough. The reality is you don't have to be malnourished or skipping meals to be in low in protein. We see it in busy professionals, athletes, parents, teenagers, older adults, and especially women of all ages.

Melanie: And you know, we originally learned in school that the RDA was the guideline.

Britni: Yes.

Melanie: But now we know the RDA was based upon the minimal amount that you need to eat to prevent the worst deficiency diseases. Not to thrive.

Britni: So that is very important to remember. Because we want everybody to thrive.

Why protein matters

Melanie: Don't look at the percentage of the RDA. That's not really good information for you. And let's start with why protein may matter more than you think. Protein is involved in almost every function in your body. You may think of it as building and maintaining muscle. That's such a small piece, but it also builds hormones, neurotransmitters, immune cells, tissues like skin, hair, nails and bones, and helps with blood sugar regulation. You know, when I work with people with osteoporosis, many times their bone density improves if we just get them eating optimal protein.

Britni: I see that too. Yep.

Melanie: You know, the body uses protein constantly breaking it down for building and repairing, and really excess isn't saved as protein. It's used for energy, but it's not saved as protein. So unlike dietary carbohydrates and fat, the body has no storage tank for protein. So if you don't eat enough dietary protein consistently, your body will start breaking down your protein, which is your muscle tissue to meet its needs. And this is why protein deficiency can sneak up on people over time, and you may not notice your undereating protein until the damage has already been done.

Short-term symptoms that can show up with protein deficiency

Britni: So true. Let's talk about what undereating protein actually looks like. It often shows up as symptoms. People don't realize they're connected to food. So let's start with some short-term symptoms, things that can show up within weeks or, or even days for that matter. So one of the biggest ones is constant hunger.

Melanie: Oh, that's a big one.

Britni: It is huge. If you eat a meal and feel hungry again an hour later or even two hours later. Or finish a meal, but don't really feel satisfied, it could very well be you're just not getting enough protein.

Melanie: You know, if I forget to put my protein in my lunchbox to bring to work and I'm like, I've got plenty of food. I've got a big salad, I've got some nuts, I've got some fruit. I'm, no. I'm hungry an hour later and I can't seem to get on top of that hunger the whole day. So I become this grazing monster that keeps going to the cupboard, and I know it's the protein.

Britni: I, I totally agree. I've had the same experience, and I think when you eat more protein, because you do feel so full and satiated, you actually end up eating just less throughout the day.

Melanie: Yes.

Britni: And less frequently as well.

Melanie: And if you're trying to lose weight, it really revs your metabolism. My husband can't even eat protein after about seven o'clock at night, meat after seven, he gets the meat sweats during the night, so that's what he calls him because his metabolism is revved and he's hot.

We also see when you're not getting a protein, things like chronic low energy or energy crashes in the afternoon, feeling shaky or irritable or anxious between meals; strong cravings for sugar or refined carbs, brain fog or trouble focusing, poor energy, just poor workouts. If you're someone who likes to work out, you get optimal protein, you're going to have the energy to push yourself and improve your workouts.

You know, people will feel sore longer because they're not getting as much glutamine from the protein, which helps with the muscle soreness. So no one likes that exhaustion or that brain fog or that slump in the mid-afternoon, or poor energy. That's not living optimally.

Britni: And you might be surprised to learn that protein plays a very important role in antibody production for our immune system. So if you're catching every cold that's going around, it could be a sign that you need to up your protein.

Long-term protein deficiency symptoms

Melanie: Now let's talk long-term, because this is where protein deficiency becomes a real health issue. Over months or years, low protein intake can lead to a loss of your muscle mass, which means you're going to be weaker. Which means you're not going to be as independent as you age.

It leads to osteopenia or osteoporosis, which is the loss of bone mass. It leads to weakness or poor balance because it circles back to do I have enough protein to maintain my muscles? And it leads to a slower metabolism, maybe gradual weight gain and an increased injury risk. If you ever noticed, if you know someone who has aged, if they have a tendency to lean forward as they walk, the older they get.

Britni: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Melanie: Generally what's happening that lean forward, of course it could be back pain, but that leaning forward is they are starting to use muscle from your backside and your backs of your thighs. And so the stability that maintains is the one in your quads in the front of your thighs. So people, elderly as they age, they will lean forward when they walk.

Well, that's loss of muscle. And then eventually, when they don't have enough muscle tone or muscle in their quads, this is when they become immobile and they have to be pushed in a wheelchair, use a walker. So that stability of your muscles starts with food. You have to have the fuel of the muscle and the protein to sustain muscle mass.

As we age, we don't want to end up with sarcopenia, which is the loss of muscle, which is what we see in a lot of elderly. So thinking of all those symptoms that we mentioned, you know, what demographic comes to mind? Those are all symptoms we see in older adults.

And one thing that tends to happen in older aged people is they start to eat less and they start to eat less protein. Could be the dentition is not as good as it was when they were younger. They don't feel like plowing through meat. It could be expense or just the palate. It changes. And to maintain the health of our bones and our muscles, older adults need to eat even more protein than they thought they needed in their fifties.

Britni: Yeah, so that's, I'm glad you pointed that out. So our protein needs actually increase as we age, not decrease. So it's yeah, quite the opposite.

Melanie: Chicken noodle soup and a saltine cracker isn't going to cut it.

Britni: Not going to cut it. I, there's probably not even 10 grams of protein in a can of chicken noodle soup.

Melanie: No. Even the low sodium one.

Britni: Yeah. Yeah.

Melanie: So it's not what we ever recommend.

Britni: No, no. You know, I think it's really becoming more well known that the health of our muscles really does reflect our overall health as we age. Having more muscle mass will improve our longevity, and unfortunately, we actually start to lose muscle as we age, starting as early as your thirties or forties.

Melanie: But that’s not necessarily the end game. It doesn't have to be that way.

Britni: Definitely not. But if you're not on top of your protein, you will inevitably start losing muscle, even at that young of an age.

Melanie: Because remember what we said, if you're not eating enough protein for all the other functions, your body will begin breaking down your protein in the form of your muscle in order to have the critical functions working properly.

Britni: And if you start to lose muscle in your thirties or forties, it's that much more difficult to, to get it back. It's possible. Absolutely. But…

Melanie: And remember your heart is a muscle. We actually need to eat protein.

Britni: Yeah, absolutely we do. Like you said, we have so many more demands for protein in our body. So when we're not eating enough protein, we will start pulling amino acids from our muscles because those amino acids are the building blocks for so many different things, just throughout our body.

So we really want to do whatever we can to support our muscles, and the best thing we can do is eating enough protein and then of course, staying active. That absolutely helps.

Melanie: We got to use them. We got to use those muscles. You know, one of the things I see in clinic, and I know you do too, is anxiety.

Britni: Yeah. Yeah.

More on the anxiety & sufficient protein connection

Melanie: So if you were an anxious individual or you have episodes of anxiety, you're probably not getting a protein because you talked about amino acids. Those amino acids are the building blocks for the brain chemicals called neurotransmitters that help us feel calm and relaxed.

Britni: Yeah, like serotonin, dopamine, I mean, and GABA. Those are probably the three most common ones that you're going to hear about. So if you're not giving your body the fuel to make the neurotransmitters, that can absolutely lead to anxiety, depression, or exacerbate it if you have it for other reasons.

Melanie: And low blood sugar. That protein locks your blood sugar into a really good zone. If you're not eating enough protein, your blood sugar dips and that could be an anxiety attack.

More on the hair, skin, nails, & bones connection to eating enough protein

So some more common symptoms of aging that can be accelerated by low protein intake or protein malabsorption are things like hair thinning or hair loss. I'm seeing so much of that now.

Britni: Oh, I have so many clients that say, I'm losing my hair, it's thinning, what do I do?

Melanie: And we're not just talking about our male clients.

Britni: No, no. It is a lot of women, but I have seen a lot of women that see improvement. I mean, it takes time, but you know, look for the, those little baby hairs growing in. Maybe you take pictures so you can track progress.

Melanie: It's exciting when we see people start getting their hair thickening up. You know, brittle nails, that's not genetic.

Britni: No.

Melanie: So if your mother had brittle nails, she probably wasn't eating enough protein. That's not your destiny. Our nails, our hair, our bones. Also our skin. So if you have poor wound healing, it could be not enough protein.

Britni: And if you have a wound of some kind, or your body has an injury or a lot of stress, your protein needs actually go up.

Melanie: And if you have surgery, your protein needs definitely go up. If you're pregnant, your protein need goes up. So if you work out really, really hard, you're tearing down protein. You're using protein, so you need more protein.

Where might you be falling short in protein in a day?

Britni: You may be relating to some of the things that we're talking about, but also thinking, well, I eat meat most days. I thought I was getting enough protein. So let's talk about where you might be falling short in protein. Even if you're eating three meals and a snack most days, a really big reason really is breakfast. So many people start the day with cereal, toast, bagels, smoothies with fruit only, juice or coffee or you know, I have plenty of clients that do start their day with one egg.

Melanie: Or one little cup of sugar sweetened yogurt.

Britni: Yes. Which is just, it's not going to cut it. It's not going to give you enough protein. And if you're starting your day with a large amount of carbohydrates and little to no protein, that's going to pop your blood sugar up and that's going to send you on this blood sugar rollercoaster throughout the day, probably creating more cravings, more hunger, fatigue, exacerbating anxiety.

You're just not going to be feeling your best. And that hunger, you know, if you're hungry a couple hours after breakfast, it's probably because you didn't eat enough protein, you got too many carbs. So in that situation, when you start the day like that, it really is difficult to make better food choices throughout the day because you're just kind of like what you explained earlier, Melanie, when you, if you forget protein for your lunch, you're just playing catchup the rest of the day.

Melanie: Yeah, it's, it really helps. I mean, lunch today I had five ounces of steak and a hard-boiled egg as my protein source. I mean, I also had, you know, salad, vegetables and so forth, but that's how much protein I eat. I usually eat five to six ounces at my meals to get in enough protein. I don't need to snack.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner is adequate for me because when you have five ounces of steak and an egg and two cups of vegetables with salad and nuts, I am good until dinner, which is really convenient. I don't have to think about what snack do I have to eat. I do have a hard-boiled egg just in case. But I probably won't need anything till dinner.

Britni: Yeah. I'm the same way, you know, focusing on the protein and getting enough protein. I generally don't need to, and I have something on hand in case I need it, but yeah, it simplifies things a little bit.

Melanie: It's, it's really nice not to have to think about every meal and snack. And we'll talk some more about this when we get back from break.

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Don’t fear fat that is in protein

Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. We are talking about protein and how the majority of people in our country are really on the protein train, but not really sure how to get enough or why do we need this much? So another reason, some people may still fear protein is calories; the fear of fat, you know, depending upon your age, you know, we had three decades of low fat eating and so we're so afraid of fat.

But you know, the fat in meat and protein is cholesterol. And how do we make our good cholesterol? We make it from cholesterol. So don't fear, don't fear the fat that is in the protein that you're eating, you know, salmon is made up of an amazing omega-3 fats that we need, brings down inflammation.

Grass fed beef is very high in omega-threes compared to conventional beef, so don't be afraid of it. We were told for decades really to just keep animal protein the size of a deck of cards, a very small amount, which a deck of cards is really about three ounces of protein. It's just not enough. And so, our carbohydrates were the main source of energy, if anybody remembers the food pyramid. That was not designed by nutritionists.

Britni: Not designed with our health in mind.

Melanie: Not designed for our health in mind. It was designed to sell grains. Which was, if you look at the old food pyramids, the bottom of the food pyramid was grains. And at the very tippy top was protein. Almost at the very top. Not directly on top. But it was there.

Britni: It was high up there.

Melanie: And so I would say, I tell my clients, be sure you get your protein in and then you get your vegetables in and then extraneous other things, fine. But don't fill up to where you don't have room for the meat. It's hard to change beliefs about nutrition and change how you eat if you're being focused on a higher carbohydrate or a low fat way of eating, or low animal protein diet for decades.

Nutritionists’ challenge: eat more protein & see your health improve (+ a few client testimonials)

Here's my challenge to you. Take the month of January. Focus on getting the amount of protein that we've discussed with you in as your primary source at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and then of course you're going to add your vegetables and your healthy fat. But make that your focus for January.

Britni: If you do that, you are going to notice some huge changes just by focusing on the protein.

Melanie: I had one client and I challenged her between her first appointment with me and her follow-up appointment. She said it was like a part-time job to make sure she was getting that protein in, but she dropped five pounds.

Britni: Wow.

Melanie: Just by making sure she got enough protein in. Because remember what we were saying? It revs your metabolism.

Britni: Revs your metabolism, and then you end up eating less carbohydrates and you're, you're just more satiated and, and fuller throughout the day. And I'm sure in addition to the five pounds, she probably felt a lot better.

Melanie: Her energy was through the roof.

Britni: Yeah, amazing.

Melanie: She was up and at them. She was ready to get going. When she got home from work, she said, I, you know, I call it “jammy 30”. You know, you come home and you're just ready or you're jammy.

Britni: Yep, yep.

Melanie: And she said, I felt like I could get things done. Jammy 30 got later and later and later.

Britni: Oh, that's amazing.

Melanie: Good to have energy.

Britni: Yeah. I just had a follow up with one of my clients who is 80. And that has been the big focus is getting more protein in. And she is affected by seasonal affective disorder like many people in Minnesota. But the last time I saw her, she said, protein makes such a huge difference for me.

I have so much more energy. I'm doing more, I'm able to exercise. My mood is better. So this winter, she's just not as affected by her seasonal affective disorder.

Melanie: Oh, what about brain clarity?

Britni: Yes.

Melanie: Does she feel have better brain clarity?

Britni: She does.

Melanie: It's a big deal.

Britni: It is a huge deal.

Melanie: And you know, when you see people in senior centers, protein is not the focus of the meals. It's very, they're trying to keep their budget low. So carbohydrates, cheap carbohydrates are really the focus. Well, what happens with a lot of these seniors is they become zinc deficient.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: Because animal protein carries zinc. So then their immune system is compromised and they're more likely to get osteoporosis. I mean, it's this whole cascade. Makes me so angry when I go in a senior center.

Britni: And low zinc can reduce your appetite. So it just, it, it just kind of fuels everything and makes it harder for them to get what their body actually needs.

Melanie: I always remember this story, Dar Kvist, the founder of Nutritional Weight & Wellness, went in to help a mother of one of her clients who wouldn't eat anymore. And when she went in to visit her, she could see what they were eating. And she felt like that she was low in zinc.

So she had her eating more protein, a protein shake, and then also supplementing with zinc. And this woman, it was like you put a flower in water, she just, her appetite improved. She was ready to eat more. She was more cognizant when everyone was visiting.

Britni: That's amazing.

Melanie: I mean, what a wonderful story.

Britni: Yeah. So amazing. So this January, focus on your protein, notice a difference. And once you feel better, I mean, that's a huge motivator to just keep it going.

How much protein is optimal?

Melanie: Yes. And weigh your protein. Weigh your meat. And see, am I getting two ounces or five ounces?

Britni: Yeah, you'd probably be surprised. So, or you know, earlier you mentioned the RDA and the RDA is 0.36 grams per pound of body weight.

Melanie: Yikes.

Britni: Not enough. So again, this is for sedentary individuals and this is like the bare minimum that you, your body needs to thrive. It is not optimal by any means. And hopefully that number changes. But here at Nutritional Weight & Wellness, we start way above that and we recommend about 0.7 grams of protein per pound of ideal body weight.

Melanie: Say that again, Britni.

Britni: So 0.7 grams of protein per pound of ideal body weight.

Melanie: Would you say that's the minimum?

Britni: Yeah, I mean, you do not want to go much under that because it's going to be really difficult to actually be building muscle when, when you're getting less than that.

Melanie: So if you've been somebody who's been working out and you're not seeing much muscle.

Britni: I hear that a lot.

Melanie: Increase that to maybe 0.8 or 0.9.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: Or even higher; men, 1.2. And you're going to see you've got the building blocks to build the muscle you're trying to see in the mirror from all your hard work. You know, and doing all those calculations can be really complicated. So to make it a little easier goal, because sometimes when we talk about this, it doesn't translate to what it looks like on the plate.

Britni: Yep.

Melanie: So for women, we recommend four to six ounces of cooked protein at each meal, two ounces at each snack. Well, maybe you've weighed your protein and you're getting on the average two ounces. Let's try for three and a half.

Britni: Yeah, start slow.

Melanie: Your body will adapt to eating that way, and you're going to find that you don't really have the room for a lot of noodles or potatoes or crackers, and you're not jonesing for something an hour after you've eaten. And then aim for about two to three ounces at a snack of animal protein, which usually works out to about 30 to 40 grams of protein at meals, give or take, and around 14 grams of protein at snacks. You know, generally it'll get you to 80 to a hundred grams per day. Or more, which is great. I try to aim for about 120 grams a day.

Britni: Yeah, I too, try to aim for over a hundred. Mm-hmm.

Melanie: Weigh your food. Get a scale. I know we carry them at Nutritional Weight & Wellness. You can find them anywhere. I like the digital flat scales because they're much easier.

Britni: Yeah, they're inexpensive.

Melanie: You put your plate on the scale, zero it out, then start adding your meat and see where you are. So it's not going to calculate how much your plate weighs. And then give yourself, how am I doing? How many ounces is this that I'm actually eating?

Britni: And you mentioned the deck of cards earlier is three ounces. So realistically you're going to want to be eating…

Melanie: Deck and a half.

Britni: Yep. Deck and a half, maybe two. And that's after it's cooked.

Melanie: After it's cooked. And then men. Men need more at about, I would say, six to seven ounces of protein at meals, three to four ounces at snacks. So basically you're going to get 20 ounces of animal protein per day. And you want to spread that out. It's going to be somewhere between a hundred forty, a hundred seventy five grams.

This really depends on your height, your athleticism, what you're doing. It's important that we spread protein evenly out through meals. Our body can assimilate it a little better than trying to get to a 20-ounce steak at dinner.

Britni: And then we get the benefit of feeling fuller throughout the day, the energy throughout the day. And that's just not going to be the same like you, that if you're trying to eat a ton at dinner, which is not realistic for most of us anyways.

Melanie: Our belly shouldn't be stretched to that, to that degree. So we kind of mentioned this earlier, but there are many scenarios that your protein needs are actually higher if you're really active, you're pregnant, you're breastfeeding under chronic stress over the age of 50, you have an injury. You mentioned surgery; that's a big one. So you know this exact number is going to vary based on height, activity level, age, goals.

Melanie: Diagnosis.

Britni: Lots of things. So this is really a starting point; the, the amounts that we've talked about.

Example days of getting in optimal protein amounts

Melanie: So, Britni, let's talk about what you eat from the time you wake up till the time you go to bed to get the protein that you need.

Britni: Yeah. So, you know, breakfast today was a couple of eggs and some additional protein from some chicken sausage. A lot of times I am not a huge egg person. So I might do a smoothie leftovers. I long ago I got used to the idea of eating anything for breakfast. You know, it's just food and for me it's easier.

So, and of, and along with that, I had some veggies, cooked it in butter. And then lunch, I had a big salad as well with four ounces of chicken, a little cheese on top, all the veggies in there. And for dinner, I'm going to have a taco salad tonight.

Melanie: Yummy. So that is great. I can't do dairy. I know cottage cheese is a big trend.

Britni: Yes, it sure is.

Melanie: It's protein in like, you know, a cup of cottage cheese.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: A cup of Greek yogurt. Even a cup of ricotta.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: Ricotta is a great protein source. If you don't love the “yogurty” cottage cheese twang that it has. So you can do a cup of ricotta, a little almond extract, sweetened with monk fruit or stevia. Put it over, you know, half a cup of berries and sprinkle some nuts on top. It is a really great dessert. Ricotta is not just for lasagna and cannoli if you tolerate dairy. Now, if you're like me and you don't tolerate dairy, I sometimes will do a cup of dairy free yogurt. I put a scoop of my protein powder in there.

Whisk, whisk, whisk. Do the same thing with the berries. And I like to drizzle a little sun butter on top. Sunflower butter. Another thing for breakfast if you're not an egg person, is you can do a protein chia pudding. So two tablespoons of chia seeds, a cup of your favorite milk, just unsweetened is best, and then a scoop of your protein powder. Whisk, whisk, whisk; pour it over some berries, put some nuts. Serve something on top that you like.

Britni: And that's an easy one to make five days worth. And be done.

Melanie: Throw it all, throw your, you know, you might do six tablespoons of chia seeds, three cups of liquid and three scoops of protein powder in the blender. And then just pour it over your berries in a mason jar. You've got three servings; easy and then sprinkle on top some pumpkin seeds or some almonds or something and you have got an easy protein filled start to breakfast that doesn't feel like I had to cook eggs.

Britni: Yeah. Yeah.

Melanie: One of my other favorite things for breakfast is a hash. So if I've got leftover steak or leftover chicken or pork or kielbasa, I will mix that with leftover whatever leftover vegetables I have. So it might be, when I look at the bowl, I try to make a quarter of it would be a concentrated carbohydrate, like sweet potato, wild rice, baby red potatoes. Anyway, mix it all up.

All you have to do is scoop a good cup and a half out, nuke it. And you've got delicious; that's easy. You can top with hot sauce or guacamole or sriracha, whatever you love. Doesn't have to be eggs.

Britni: Does not have to be eggs.

Melanie: We had a ham for Christmas, so we're doing a lot of ham bowls.

Britni: There you go. And the cottage cheese, if you don't like the texture, because I know the texture weirds people out a bit. You can blend it. And if that works well, you can make sauces with it to up the protein. So I have some clients that do that.

Melanie: Use it in place of sour cream. When you blend it. I love to blend, for my dairy eating husband, I love to blend a cup and a half of cottage cheese and three fourths cup of frozen strawberries. I sweeten it with some monk fruit. It tastes like strawberry cheesecake, I'm told.

Britni: I bet.

Melanie: So easy. Who doesn't love that for breakfast?

Britni: Sign me up.

Melanie: The other little tip is use bone broth wherever it calls for broth. You can add bone broth has anywhere from six to seven grams of protein per cup.

Britni: It's a good tip.

Melanie: It's just a boost.

Britni: Yeah. Every little bit counts.

Melanie: For my clients that don't love the texture of meat, a lot of times I'll have them do pureed baby food in their soups. So pureed organic beef or pureed organic, and that's a way they can, it's expensive, but it, it's a way to get protein in if texture is a thing for you.

Britni: Yeah. Good ideas. And then protein powder. So we, you mentioned protein powder, but you really do want to check the label of how many grams are in one scoop of your protein. Because it does, it varies quite a bit. So you might end up needing more than one scoop for breakfast.

Melanie: Yes. And you know, we do lean towards the animal protein, animal protein powders. They just have more leucine. A lot of them have more leucine, so they're easily digestible. I can't do whey protein. I think you can.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: My husband can do whey protein. So there's a lot of options out there. A little note is plant protein, when we talk about quality of protein, Britni, what do you think about plant protein?

Plant protein vs. animal protein

Britni: A lot of them are going to be lower in that leucine you mentioned; that's the amino acid we need enough of to to stimulate muscle synthesis. So a lot of them are going to be lower. Pea protein has higher amounts. But I think if you're able to tolerate whey protein, I think that's superior. It ends, it's usually cheaper; has a good taste. So if you're able to do that, that's what I would go with.

Melanie: If you can’t, go for a Paleo Protein. It’s made from beef. Does not taste like steak. It does not. And then when we're talking about, a lot of clients will ask me, well, I had peanut butter. I say, what's your protein? Well, I had peanut butter on my celery. It's a plant protein.

So a lot of the protein is bound to up with fiber, so we don't absorb, it's not as bioavailable. And you need about 110% more if you're trying to get your protein from plants versus animal protein.

Britni: And you know, in the case of peanut butter, it's primarily fat.

Melanie: It is.

Britni: So, you know, with that, to get enough protein, you're going to be getting just a lot, a lot of fat, a lot more calories, so thinking about types of protein, like you said, leaning towards those animal sources, quality absolutely matters. You talked about grass fed beef is more nutrient dense, so we're looking for grass fed beef, bison, lamb pasture raised chicken and turkey, wild caught fish and seafood.

Melanie: What about legumes Britni?

Britni: You know, legumes are, sure they have some protein, but it's the same scenario. They're not as bioavailable. And then to eat enough of them, you're going to get a lot of carbohydrates, which is going to create a blood sugar spike.

Melanie: And then weight gain.

Britni: Yeah. Yeah. I have a lot of clients that wear continuous glucose monitors and a lot of beans and legumes is pops up their blood sugar.

Melanie: And then finally, I know that there are certain grains like quinoa, which a cup of quinoa has about eight grams of protein. But what to your point, it is 40 grams of carbohydrates. So again, not the best option. So here's a little tip. If it makes a face or it comes from a face, that's your animal source of protein.

Britni: Don't think about that part when you're eating it.

Protein absorption is important

Melanie: No. Okay. So let's talk a little bit about protein absorption. So we were talking about that. So protein absorption is important because we can consume all this protein, but we don't absorb well. And it's common to be eating protein with each meal and snack, but if your body is not absorbing it well, you're going to suffer from symptoms of low protein.

And then common causes of this could be maybe low stomach acid. We decrease the stomach acid we make as we age. Chronic stress, digestive enzyme deficiencies, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in your digestive system, inflamed or leaky gut, and then gallbladder issues. You know, a little tip is if you see food in your stool, if your stool floats, it should sink. If the stool, if you have a quick transit time and you have diarrhea, these are all indications that you might have an absorptive problem.

Britni: So pay attention to all those things. I know it's not fun to look at or talk about, but it can really tell us a lot about what's going on in your body, so you, you, you had alluded to this earlier, but it is very common to lose the ability to to digest a lot of protein as we age; naturally our stomach acid production reduces, our enzyme production reduces. And you may be able to think, I used to be able to eat what I wanted, but now when I eat meat, it just sits like a brick in my stomach.

Melanie: Also an indication.

Britni: Yes. Yeah. So that is a sign you just don't have enough acid to break that down because digesting, breaking down meat requires more stomach acid.

Melanie: And that's a, your body problem. That is not the meat.

Britni: Yes, that is exactly.

Melanie: Meat is actually a very easily digestible food. So really, if it sits like a brick, it's a you problem that can be fixed.

Britni: Absolutely. It can. Yes. So, you know, some, some ideas to help to improve that if you're resonating, eat in a calm environment. Chew your food thoroughly so your food is very soft before you swallow.

Melanie: Digestion starts in the mouth. We need to think of this.

Britni: You know, think about how long it takes you to eat a meal. It should not take five or 10 minutes. You know, we need to be taking at least 15 minutes, I would say to eat a meal.

Melanie: I agree. We heard a presenter at the medical conference we went to that even if you're drinking a smoothie, chew your smoothie. Because you need the enzymes in your mouth.

Britni: Yes.

Melanie: Think about that. Kinda like swish it a little. When I take a sip now and I don't plow, I used to be able to put a smoothie down really fast, but I have that noise in my head now.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: Take your time.

Britni: Slow down and then you might, you know, if it really is sitting like a brick or if you've noticed food in your stool, you feel like that meat is sitting like a brick, you might want to try a digestive enzyme. So our Key Digestive Enzymes have various enzymes in there. It has betaine HCL. It has ox bile, so if you've had your gallbladder removed, that can be helpful.

I recommend start with one, just take it before you eat. And then some people do see benefit taking two with a meal. It's just kind of playing around and see what, what your body needs.

Melanie: And if someone has bloating, acid reflux or feels heavy after eating that meat, again, that's a sign that overall digestion may need some support and maybe not forever. But it, the protein is important that we absorb it all food really in nutrients we want to absorb. So that's something we focus a lot on when working with a client one-on-one, helping that digestive tract feel better, help you absorb all the nutrients, which in turn is going to help your overall ability to digest food.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: So we have to maybe have some aids along the way until the body can remember to do what it's supposed to do. One of my other favorite things is if you have a lead ball feeling in your stomach after you eat is digestive bitters.

Britni: Yeah. That can be very helpful as well.

Melanie: Yep. And someone can with Nutritional Weight & Wellness if you make an appointment with one of us, we can find what the formula is that works the best for you to feel like you enjoy eating again.

Britni: So if you're thinking right now, I could never eat that much meat, remember, you can gradually increase. So think about how much you're getting now. And just increase incrementally. And then it does get easier, I promise you that. And again, you'll be eating less of the other things, less carbohydrates and I, I have had clients who just really have low appetite.

Melanie: Mm-hmm.

Britni: And your body gets used to it and your appetite actually comes back, which is a good thing.

Melanie: Yes. Once you, your appetite comes back and your body, because if you haven't been eating something for a long time, the body is very intuitive. And it will stop making the enzymes it needs to break down that food. So what you have to do is signal to the body, hey, I'm going to be eating more vegetables.

Hey, I might be eating more meat. The body in turn will start making the enzymes it needs to break it down. So if you've been eating one ounce, don't go out of the out tomorrow and say, I'm going to eat a six-ounce steak. Gradually increase, your body will adapt by producing the enzymes it needs to break down the new load of food.

Britni: That reminded me of an individual I had in one of my classes years ago, and she was a vegan for many years, but decided to start eating meat again. And she took our foundations course. And so she started small with smaller amounts as her body got used to it. The digestive enzymes were really helpful for her to, to kind of bridge that gap, and she was feeling so much better. It was amazing. And then, you know, she did not need the enzymes forever. She was able to, to let those go because her body again got used to digesting and breaking that down.

Melanie: That's a great story. You know, I have the reverse. I had a client came to me and she had been carnivore for six months, and when she tried to go back to eating vegetables and fruit, she bloated.

Britni: Oh no.

Melanie: Terribly So we literally started with, it's like, I call it mashup, where she would blend various fruits and vegetables and put it in ice cube trays. And she would start with one ice cube of the mashup a day. And then as she adjusted, we went to two, three. Now she can eat a big salad.

Britni: Oh, wow.

Melanie: But we had to train her body to make the enzymes.

Britni: That makes sense.

Melanie: For the produce. That's so funny. You had a client with the exact opposite. So the big message we want you to walk away with is you need protein. You need a lot of protein. You need probably more protein than you think you need. And a high protein diet is not just for bodybuilders, it's for your immune system and your brain and your hormones and your hair and your bones, and your mood and your energy.

So if you're listening and thinking, I have a lot of these symptoms that they're talking about, make a conscious effort to bump up your protein for a few weeks. And remember, protein is, we're talking about is anything with a face or makes a face. So see how you feel. And let us know.

Britni: Yeah. We'd love to hear feedback.

Melanie: We would love to hear feedback of what you've learned and how you implemented it on this podcast.

Britni: And if you ever need help personalizing a meal plan, you know, you can always work one-on-one with myself or Melanie or another nutritionist on staff. We just help to fine tune amounts, figure out what's going to work best for your body, your lifestyle, and help you with, with the action part of the plan.

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Melanie: Thank you so much for joining us today. If this episode resonated with you, share it with a friend or family member who would find this information helpful. Our goal at Nutritional Weight & Wellness is to help each and every person discover the power of eating real food. It's a simple but powerful message. We thank you for listening. Have a great day.

Britni: Thank you.