Summer Food - How Much
Protein Do I Need?

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August 9, 2023 - Episode #118 - Summer Food - How Much Protein Do I Need?

I’m about to really open your eyes.  There are 2 major mistakes that you are making as a mid-life woman……you are not eating enough protein and you aren’t lifting weights. As we get older and that weight seems to just settle in and not budge, we start subscribing to the same, stupid notion that we have heard our whole life…eat less and move more.  Eat less and move more.  But the question becomes what do I eat?  You need more protein!!  That mistake of mid-life women to eat less and move more typically results in inadequate protein intake and way too much cardio.  And you are shooting yourself in the foot!  Today we are gonna chat all things protein.  Because I want to help answer the question, how much protein do I need?  
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This is the hot topic on the last of our summer series today on the Healthy Harmony podcast.
 
PS...... You know these hot topics don't just apply to summer time right?!? 🤪
 
PSS..... So much great stuff coming up this Fall! If you are a mid-life woman, this is THE place for you.  A place for you to learn and grow.  A place for you to feel both empowered and encouraged.  And yes, a place for you to take control of your hormones and your health!  I'm wrapping up the last month of my mid-life hormone specialist mentorship and I have so much to share with you.  I know you are struggling in this area and help is on the way my friend!! Stay tuned.

 
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TRANSCRIPTION

I am about to really open your eyes. There are two major mistakes that you're making as a midlife woman. You're not eating enough protein and you're not lifting weights. You know, as we get older and that weight just seems to settle in and not budge, we kind of go back to that same stupid notion. We've heard our whole life eat less and move more, eat less, move more. But the question becomes, what do I eat? Here's the answer. You need more protein. That mistake of midlife women to eat less and move more, typically results in inadequate protein intake and weigh too much cardio. And guess what? You're shooting yourself in the foot today. We're gonna chat all things protein, because I want to help answer the question, how much protein do I need? It's all today on the Healthy Harmony Podcast.

Welcome back to the Healthy Harmony Podcast. I'm Jennifer Pickett, dietitian turned functional medicine health coach, who is in the process of becoming a hormone specialist just for midlife women. As you know, we are in we are concluding our summer series, short, sweet to the Point Podcast. It's exactly the information that you are looking for. And today's subject is protein. So let's get right into it. Lemme give you some protein facts.

Protein is a macronutrient. Remember, there are three macronutrients, carbs, fat, and protein. And this particular macronutrient is essential for growth, repair, and maintenance of lean body tissues. So protein is composed of amino acids. You may have heard amino acids being called the building blocks of life. Protein is broken down to amino acids. And amino acids rebuild healthy cells. So very, very important.
 
We know that protein performs numerous vital functions in the body.

It contributes to the formation of hormones, enzymes, antibodies. It is also involved in tissue repair, mu muscle building, immune system support, and maintaining fluid balance. So there's many, many benefits of protein. So let me highlight some of those benefits for you. There is something called T E F and it stands for thermic effect of food. So thermic effect of food or T E F is the energy expenditure required for digestion, absorption, and processing of nutrients. So protein has a higher energy expenditure or T e f than carbs or fats. What that means, it's that it requires more energy to digest and metabolize. This is a really good thing because it can help with those weight loss goals. One of the best benefits of protein that I love is that it really helps with satiety.
 
Now I'm just, I cannot help but think of some things in terms of songs.

So I'm hearing the song, I can't get no satisfaction by the Rolling Stones in my head when I was putting this together because so many of you, you are singing that song. I can't get no satisfaction because you're not getting enough protein. And when you're not getting enough protein, you are not getting that satisfaction and you are giving in to those munchies and it's an absolute disaster. We know protein also helps with muscle growth and repair. We need muscle. Women hear me loud and clear. We need muscle. Muscle helps our metabolism, it helps us burn fat. We need to be eating protein and we need to be lifting weights. Again, these are the two biggest mistakes that midlife women are making. They're dramatically cutting their calories and they're doing all of this cardio. And let me just tell you, it's an absolute disaster, especially when it comes to your adrenal health and your hormones and your thyroid, by the way, all of those work together.

So in short, protein improves your bones. It really helps your muscles, it reduces inflammation, it improves insulin resistance. And by the way, it's correlated with increased life expectancy. So a lot of benefits from protein. So let's review some protein sources. Very simple list meats, eggs, dairy, nuts, nut butter, beans. So these are the absolute best resources of protein. And I wanna just touch very briefly on it is a, a hotly debated animal protein versus plant protein. So you're getting it's very important that you know this, okay? 'cause You need to be informed so you can make good decisions for yourself. So when it comes to animal proteins, this is where it's at, my friend. You need to be eating meat and you need to be eating eggs. So with animal proteins, you're getting the complete amino acid profile. You're getting a lot, you're, those nutrients are able to be broken down and absorbed.

We call that nutrient bioavailability. So you're getting that really good nutrient bioavailability. You're getting heme iron, which is easier to be absorbed. You're getting a lot of B vitamins, vitamin D, creatine, zinc trine. Like the list goes on, okay? You're getting so much from those really good animal proteins. The body recognizes it, it knows exactly what to do. You are getting a lot of benefit when it comes to plant protein. The problem is that it really lacks those essential amino acids. The body has to work really, really hard to break it down. So it can be a lot more difficult to break down. It can contain anti-nutrients. It also contains non-heme iron, which is not as readily absorbed. Also when someone's trying to meet all of their protein needs through these plant proteins, it's very, very, very, very difficult, if not impossible.
And by the way, in doing so, you're getting a carb overload overload. So that can really kinda shoot you in the foot. So those are just some things to be aware of. And I know what you might be thinking. You may have heard all the, the hoopla around about this, you know, this meat substitute. So you might be thinking, but Jennifer, I can get some of this meat substitute that I keep hearing about. Hey, girl, turn that package over, start counting chemicals instead of calories. And by the way, it's full of soy, which is a genetically modified and heavily sprayed crop. And the jury keeps going back and forth on whether soy has a positive or negative effect on your hormones. What are the, what are the, the toxic properties of that? So, so I'm saying it's a no, don't fall for, don't fall pre to the deceptive marketing.

Don't fall prey to government messages about your health. They don't know what the heck they're talking about. And don't eat fake meat. Hey, eat, let me say that again. <Laugh> got so excited. I got all tongue tied. Don't eat fake meat. Just say no. Now, there is a lot of this is a, a, a larger discussion when we're discussing animal proteins versus plant proteins. But in the essence of keeping this short, let me just remind you, meat and eggs. These are not the bad guys, and you do need to be eating these. So then the next question is, well, how much protein do I do I need? You are aiming for 0.8 to one gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight. Now, when I say ideal body weight, I'm talking about a healthy weight for you. No girl, not your high school weight.

That doesn't even make sense. But what's a very healthy weight for you? And you might be thinking <laugh>. Holy moly, that's a lot of protein, right? Yes. This takes, this takes being very strategic and getting plenty of protein at each meal. That's at least 30 grams of protein.
 
And it starts with breakfast. This is where most of you are setting yourself up for disaster. You've heard me say it before and I'll say it again. You need breakfast and no ma'am, coffee with collagen doesn't count as breakfast. If you have questions about intermittent fasting, that was our last podcast. So go back and listen to that because you might be doing this all wrong. It's a short podcast. Go listen. I think you'll get a lot of benefit from that. But I'm talking about a meal, a full meal. One of your best meals should be at breakfast.

It needs to contain a good bit of protein. So I'm talking eggs maybe some organic cheese, maybe a, a sausage patty with no nitrates or nitrites. One of my favorite brands is Applegate Farms. So when it comes to breakfast, I want you to think savory and not sweet. And again, you've heard me say this a lot before, cereal is a disaster. Milk and cereal, absolute disaster, oatmeal, blood sugar, disaster. Remember, breakfast doesn't have to look like breakfast. Breakfast should never ever look like dessert. It can be leftovers from a healthy dinner. Start your day off strong, get you some protein, and you will be so glad you did.

Now, everything I just said, I know that this is a stretch for a lot of you. You're used to putting some collagen in your coffee and calling it breakfast, and it's a big mistake. How do I know? Hey, I've made the same mistake and I know you're thinking, but Jennifer, I'm not hungry in the morning. And guess what? I've been there. I get that I've had the same problem. And actually the fact that you're not getting hungry could be a little bit of a red flag because the hunger signal can be a sign of a very healthy metabolism. Now, there's a lot more involved scientifically speaking, but I want to emphasize that you need to eat breakfast and you need to eat a very protein dense breakfast even if you're not hungry. Now, I know the other dilemma that is going through your mind right now, and it's this, Jennifer, I don't have time.
And again, I hear you totally relate to that. Mornings are busy and man, it just, it feels like we don't have time to do this. The key is to have a plan and do a bit of prep and it's worth it. So maybe make some egg bites ahead of time. Prep your smoothie by having your, you know, by putting some dry, the dry ingredients in little baggies and your frozen ingredients in little baggies that will save you some time. It does take some planning and it's worth it. And it's not as time consuming as you may have convinced yourself that it is. You can scramble some eggs really, really fast. And sometimes it's just about like how we prioritize our time. And so this is something I've been guilty of. Like plenty of times I just have not prioritized getting in that protein at breakfast, having a really good breakfast.

'Cause I was frankly like too lazy to do it. And, and I suffered as a result, okay? My energy was not the same. That first meal of the day makes a big difference. So the goal is for you to get 0.8 to one gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight. You need protein and a good bit at each and every meal to meet those goals. So again, big subject, but remember, the goal of these short podcasts is just to get you to think, to get you to evaluate, to get you to be mindful. Again, this podcast on protein was not all inclusive in everything you needed to know. You know, as women, we just have a lot on us, and I wanna give you the secrets to having energy and feeling your best. So I hope that Ed, that today I've given you some simple, actionable items that you can apply to your life.
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If you're a midlife woman, healthy harmony is the place for you to learn and grow, to feel encouraged and empower and to take control of your health. As I'm wrapping up this last month in my hormone specialist mentorship, oh my word, I have got so much to share with you. It's not even funny. There is just so much you need to know that you've never been taught, that I've never been taught, and this has been my whole world. And you're not gonna learn these things. You're not gonna hear this through conventional means. So just know, hey, I've got your back and I have got so much coming up for you as we go into the fall. So stay tuned, my friend. And in the meantime, go eat some protein. Bye y'all.