Obtaining Ideal Weight: How Much Protein Do You Need?
But often, those foods are also some of the best sources of protein
– meat, eggs, cheese and other dairy foods. That creates a
problem:
When we don’t get enough protein, there is increasing
evidence that the body tries to store calories rather than burning
them.
The Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) for healthy adults is:
0.37 grams of quality protein per pound of body weight per day.
For example:
- 55 grams of quality protein per day for a 150 pound person
- 73 grams of quality protein per day for a 200 pound person
- 91 grams of quality protein per day for a 250 pound person
HOW TO GET THAT MUCH PROTEIN?
An ounce of meat (the weight after the shrinkage of cooking) provides about 7 grams of protein.
An egg contains about 7 grams of protein.
Milk contains 8 grams of protein per 8 ounce cup
Example: To get 70 grams of protein from meat, you would need to eat 10 ounces of cooked meat each day…
I suggest you keep a log book for a few weeks till you know exactly how much it takes to assure enough protein.