My one-day protein-tracking adventure established that protein grams are everywhere and, contrary to my concerns after reading the article mentioned in this post, I’m probably getting plenty. Plenty of protein despite little to no meat, fish, tofu, or supplements. Thank goodness for dairy. Top ten most protein-rich items I ate on my one-day protein-recording effort:
- Milk: 26 grams total
- Boca burger: 13
- Peanut butter: 12
- Cottage cheese: 12
- Crackers: 7.5
- Cereal: 6
- Bread: 5
OK, so that’s not 10, but just those things added up to more than 80 grams. The raisins, orange juice, almonds, chocolate, chips, carrots, tomatoes and apple, though, hardly amounted to anything. (Guess you can tell it wasn’t exactly a culinarily dazzling day, either.)
That’s a good thing, too, because I also found this article that reported on a study where the bones of older people who took calcium and vitamin D supplements did best if they also averaged 87 grams of protein a day. I’m not over 65 yet, but I’m guessing the same principle just might apply to someone my age.
In any case, the good news is I can build muscle and quit worrying about sarcopenia for the time being. That’s a relief, because I also learned that keeping track of every bite you put in your mouth is a pain!
Lori // Apr 6, 2007 at 2:01 pm
Thanks, Janet for all of this very helpful information. What’s confusing is the argument seems to go both ways — you need protein to stay strong but too much and
your bones fall apart. How the heck are you supposed to know what’s best for you as an individual person.
I now get why heavy people just give up on trying to lose weight — you can get 80 different opinions on everything related to nutrition! And, now there are even articles saying that the plastic in baby bottles and the
Nalgene bottles allow a type of poison to leach into the milk and fluids in the bottle. Good grief. I’m just going to bury my head in the sand!
Janet // Apr 6, 2007 at 3:25 pm
I think you will find that burying your head in the sand is a very effective way to reduce calorie intake-maybe to increase activity level, too.
You’re right, of course, about the excess and often-conflicting information. That’s one of the things I like about Nutrition Action; it does a pretty good job of putting nutrition information in perspective, even if you don’t care for its point of view. (It’s fairly aggressive in its denunciations of bad industrial food.)