Full transcript of the episode:
Hey everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Fuelled triathlete.
I’m your host, Andrea. Today we are talking all about protein. So this is part two of part three, all about our macronutrients series. Macronutrients include carbohydrates, protein and fats. So if you want to learn more about what protein is, what it does in the body, what are good protein sources for triathletes? How much you should be consuming during the day at meals after workouts. Do you need to consume protein during training? How much can you actually absorb at one time? All that kind of stuff.
We are going to be talking about it.
So protein. When you think of protein, you might think of recovery from exercise. You might think of muscle building, muscle growth, and protein does play a role in that, but it has many important roles within the body. So first off, what exactly is protein? So protein is known as our macronutrient. And it’s basically a complex molecule that’s made up of a bunch of different amino acids.
And so amino acids are the building blocks of protein. There’s 20 different types of amino acids and they can string together in different combinations to make up different types of proteins that have different roles in the body. So there’s 20 different amino acids. Nine of them are essential. So essential amino acids mean the body cannot produce or manufacture these immuno acids on their own. So we’re going to come back to amino acids because you may have heard of amino acids. If you’ve heard of BC AA. Or at branch chain amino acids.
So what does protein actually do in the body?
So it supports the growth and repair of muscles, tendons, ligaments, hair, skin, and nails. It assists in making different hormones, enzymes, and neuro-transmitters within the body. It has a key role in the immune system because it creates antibodies. It’s also needed in the formation of hemoglobin and hemoglobin is what carries oxygen to our muscles. When our carbohydrate stores are very low, it can be a fuel source during endurance training. So lots of different roles there.It’s not just about repair and recovery, although that is a big role.
If you listened to last week’s episode, I talked about this car analogy. So I talked about how our carbohydrates are like the gas in the car and they help to fuel your car or fuel your body. And protein on the other hand. Fuel source providing a fuel source for the body is not its main job. For our body to actually take protein and convert that into glucose is a very lengthy process. It’s not very efficient. So it’s not like the gas in the car.
I kind of more think of it as all the parts of the car. So all the structure, the hood, the windows, all that kind of stuff. And then it’s also like a car mechanic. So if you get into a fender bender, you damage your car a little bit a mechanic comes in and repairs that just like protein comes in and repairs your muscles when they’ve been broken down and damaged during exercise.
So how much protein do we actually need in a day? This thought of endurance athletes not needing as much protein is starting to shift. People who are more into strength training or bodybuilding need protein, but endurance athletes also do have higher protein needs than are then sedentary individuals. So in endurance protein is really important for helping you maintain your lean muscle and supporting high volume of training.
So making sure that you’re maintaining your lean muscle mass as you’re going through intense periods of training. And I would say the minimum amount of protein for endurance athletes to aim for is 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight. So, if you remember from last episode, we talked about how to convert your weight in pounds to kilograms.
So you’re going to take your weight in pounds and divide that by 2.2. So 1 54 divided by 2.2 is 70 kilograms. And if you want to calculate, a 70 kilogram athlete, times 1.6. Is going to need 1 21 grams of protein a day. Now you may need a higher amount if you’re going through very intense periods of training, or if you’re an older athletes, as it takes more protein to stimulate that muscle protein synthesis and maintain your muscle mass. You may need up to two grams per kilogram to about 2.2 grams per kilogram of body weight.
So that 70 kilogram athlete may need anywhere from 1 21 to 1 54 grams of protein per day. Like I say, getting onto the higher end, older athletes, intense periods of training. If you’re looking to engage in some weight loss, you want to up your protein so that you’re maintaining your muscle mass, as you try to do that.
So when it comes to our intake of protein, nutrient timing is really important.
Meaning, when are we consuming that protein. Ideally, you’re not just consuming most of your protein all in one meal or in one sitting, for example, a low protein breakfast, moderate protein lunch, and then a super high protein dinner. You want to try to space that through your meals and kind of give a little bit in snacks as well and have some with your recovery.
So you can calculate your total protein needs for the day. And then try to divide that up through your meals. You may need anywhere from about 20 to 40 grams of protein per meal, and 10 to 15 at snacks, and depending on body size. If you want to figure out how much protein you may specifically need an, a meal aiming for about 0.4 to 0.5 grams per kilogram of body weight. Again, just depending how many meals you’re having, how many snacks as well. When it comes to protein after a workout, aiming for about 0.3 0.4 grams per kilogram of body weight. So works out to about 20 to 40 grams of protein per meal and post-workout, and again, for snacks, about 10 to 15 grams. Protein before bed can also be helpful.
If you are someone who’s looking to build lean muscle mass that can help prevent muscle protein breakdown. Try to have even amounts at your breakfast, lunch, and dinner, fill in those gaps with some snacks in between, and also making sure you’re getting that post-workout protein in, so that may be through an additional snack. Or it can be as part of a meal.
You may have heard a myth or something going on about our body only being able to absorb 25 to 30 grams of protein at one time. And then the rest is just peed out or gone to waste. However, this is not necessarily true. All of that protein is going to be utilized by the body. As I talked about in the beginning of this episode, there are so many ways that protein gets used. It’s just that, not all of that protein is going to be used for muscle protein synthesis or muscle rebuilding and repairing.
So again, it may only use up to about 30, 40 grams for that, but again, the rest is going to be used for things like our hormones, enzymes, bone health, immune function . So you don’t need to be worried about trying to only consume 30 grams at a meal. I think the main thing is you’re hitting your protein needs for the day. And then spacing it out pretty evenly as you can.
I talked about in terms of having protein at meals and snacks post-workout. So I just want to go into a little bit more of when we should be having protein.
So we want to have you having protein at all those times. In terms of how soon after it really depends on the type of training. Protein is important to have within that 30 minutes to an hour window after your training. If you want to learn a little bit more specifically about recovery nutrition, then you do want to go ahead and listen to episode number two, all about recovery nutrition, and post-workout. There are certain times where you don’t want to really eat high protein. You want to keep it low, just before training. It takes longer to break down and digest than carbohydrates. So if you eat protein very close to, or high protein, very close to heading out for a run, a bike, swim, you may feel like that food is just still hanging around your stomach.
It’s still not really fully digested. It can cause some stomach upset and some issues. Not to mention again, as we talked about earlier, that’s not your body’s main fuel source, more so want to focus on those carbohydrates pre-training so that would be a place to keep that protein lower. And then also during training. Most of our guidelines when we look at fueling training is going to be around how much carbohydrates to consume per hour. How much fluids, how much sodium. Protein is not one of those main things that we need to be looking at. Now again, it takes longer to digest and that fuel source is not getting to your muscles very quickly. So you want to keep protein fairly low. There are maybe certain situations where you can get a bit of a benefit with having protein.
So I talked a little bit earlier about how BCAAs or branch chain amino acids are essential amino acids and these sometimes can be used as a fuel. So we don’t really have guidelines around protein needs during exercise. But I do want to come back to this once we talk a little bit more about BCAAs.
So we’ve talked a lot about protein, but what foods actually contain protein? So there’s different types of protein groups. We’ve got our animal proteins and our plant-based proteins. So protein from animal sources.
We have things like meat, beef, pork, poultry, fish shellfish , eggs , like dairy, greek yogurt, regular yogurt, milk, cottage cheese, and cheese. So these are most of our animal based proteins. And just like last week when I talked about carbohydrates, having a ton of other nutrients, In addition to just carbohydrates protein foods also contain a lot of extra nutrients as well.
Things like iron. B12, some have omega threes. So really good to kind of try to aim for a variety when it comes to proteins, whether you are animal or a plant based. From milk, we can also create protein powders. So a whey protein powder or a casein protein powder.
These are both made derived from milk. And protein powders, the way that they differ from food pretty much is that it’s just a concentrated protein source. That’s going to be the main nutrient that you’re getting from these protein powders. Whey protein powder is quickly digested in the body.
It’s your it’s taken up by your muscles very quickly. You can have whey protein anytime of the day, but as a quick protein source or quick recovery after training, it can be okay to have, but keep in mind it’s okay to have real foods after training as well. You don’t necessarily need to have protein supplements. And a casein protein is also derived from milk and it’s the type of protein.
That’s also high in cottage cheese. It’s a more slow digesting, slow release protein powder. I wouldn’t recommend it after a workout for quick recovery, but it’s more so a protein you want to use before bed. Overnight your fasting, if you want to prevent that muscle protein breakdown.
So again, not totally necessary as you can still get casein from cottage cheese, and also just consuming any protein in a bedtime snack can be beneficial for that muscle repair and recovery overnight.
Protein powders again, they’re not necessary. They may be a way to help you meet your protein needs because as endurance athletes are a bit higher, sometimes we need a little bit of extra help, a little bit of extra convenience and that’s what they can do.
So then we’ve got our plant-based proteins. So soy protein, whether that’s tofu, tempeh, edamame, soy milk. We also have, beans and legumes. So chickpeas, black beans, lentils, kidney beans, all that good stuff, nuts and seeds. So things like pumpkin seeds and pistachios, these are particular, of the nuts and seeds, a little bit higher in protein, but things like cashews, almonds are also great. Seeds like hemp seeds, chia seeds provide some protein as well.
Some grains have a little bit of protein in them, not super high. Peanut butter again has a little bit of protein. It’s a little bit more of a fat. So it’s kind of a rundown on the two types.
When it comes to plant proteins, there can be some other nutrients in them as well.
So one of the main differences between a plant and animal protein has to do with what amino acids are contained in them. So animal based proteins are what we call complete protein. So they have all of the essential amino acids that we have to get through diet. Whereas, not all plant-based proteins are complete.
So they’re missing some of those essential amino acids. Does not mean that as following a vegan or vegetarian diet, you can’t get them. Have that variety of different types of plant-based proteins through the day. So there are some plant-based proteins that are completes, and that would be soy protein tofu, tempeh, edamame, TVP.
And also just like we have animal-based protein powders, we can also have plant based ones. what you want to look for when you’re looking for a vegan or vegetarian protein powder is that has a blend of different types of protein. So it has like brown rice, hemp, it has quinoa, chia, pea protein.
So this helps make sure that in your supplements, you’re getting all the essential amino acids. Why is this important? So it’s particularly important after training because we need something called leucine. Which is one of those essential amino acids and a certain amount to help to stimulate muscle protein synthesis or muscle growth. Leucine is one of those BCAs or branch chain amino acids.
So typically if you’re having whey protein after maybe milk, eggs, chicken, Cottage cheese, that kind of stuff after work out, you’re getting some leucine. Just want to think about it a little bit more when you’re having vegetarian or vegan sources afterwards. Try to consume either, a plant-based protein has a blend, your having soy protein afterwards, or you’re combining different types of plant-based protein. So maybe having. Beans with some grains
so we’re looking for about two to three grams of leucine. Post-workout.
Now that brings the question. Should you just have a BCAA supplement?
If you are meeting your protein needs ,you don’t necessarily need to spend extra money on a branch chain amino acid supplement. Now, if you’re a vegan, you may not be getting all of your protein needs or may not be getting enough complete proteins. That may be a different story, but before you go ahead and spend money on these supplements, I would first look at getting all of your protein needs through the day and through a variety of different sources.
Again, if you’re using a protein powder, this may be pretty rich in branch chain, amino acid supplements, and you may not necessarily need to have both.
Now, what about BCAAs during. So a lot of claims, if you’ve ever seen just straight up BCA supplements, lot of claims that it can help reduce muscle soreness, help with quicker recovery, muscle growth. There’s not a lot of strong evidence for this. And like I said, if you’re meeting all of your protein needs in the day, this may be just extra that you’re spending money on that you don’t necessarily need to. However, you may have noticed in certain types of endurance sports, nutrition, supplements that they have BCAs. So, as I mentioned earlier in the episode, sometimes when your carbs stores are low, your body can use some protein for fuel.
Our muscles can use the branch chain amino acids for fuel directly, it doesn’t need to be metabolized in the liver in any way before going to the muscle. I also find that, Especially during very long distance endurance events that protein may help a little bit with satiety. It may help a little bit with GI. Tolerance. And again, it may be a little bit of an additional fuel source. We have a lot of recommendations on specific amounts to have carbs fluid, sodium, but not necessarily protein. But again, when it comes to protein, I would say at most, a few grams per hour, if you’re fueling with food, then you might have some protein in that food that you’re consuming on the bike.
But you just want to keep that fairly low. So no, none of these like super high protein food sources that I mentioned are good to have during training. But having a bit of protein through a peanut butter and banana or peanut butter and jam sandwich might be something that you want to consume on the bike. There’s a bit of protein in the peanut butter, but not a very high amount.
What I guess I’m trying to say is that you don’t need to be consuming a BCAA drink during endurance. It may not necessarily provide extra performance benefits. I would still say the main thing to focus on during your training should be that you’re hitting your carbs. You’re getting your fluids and you’re getting your sodium. Overall, keep that protein low .
There’s other nutrients that are gonna be more beneficial in terms of your performance protein. I would focus more so in recovery nutrition.
So I just want to touch on what can happen if you’re not getting enough protein. Now there can be some different signs that you may be noticing and just know that sometimes these are signs of other things. If you’re constantly feeling hungry or having a lot of cravings, sometimes it’s due to not consuming enough protein.
So protein is one of those nutrients that’s takes longer to digest. It’s more satiating. It keeps us feeling fuller longer. So getting a protein at your meals, especially breakfast can help with those cravings, you may get later in the day. You may feel more tired. Not getting enough protein, as protein can also help with stabilizing your blood sugars throughout the day.
You may notice maybe your hair is thinning, maybe losing some hair, your nails, A bit weaker or more brittle. You’re feeling weak. You’re not recovering as well from your training can also be some signs.
Okay. So I think that’s all that I wanted to go over today for protein, just as a big overview.
If you have any more questions about protein, Definitely happy to do another episode, maybe where I answer your questions or something more specific, maybe protein supplements, how to choose them.
If you’re listening to this episode and feeling like you need a bit more support and guidance towards putting a nutrition plan that helps you meet your protein needs along with carbohydrates and fats and your total energy intake, then it may be helpful to work. With me, one-on-one in my Fuelled to Perform a one-to-one nutrition coaching program. So in that program, we look at how you’re eating right now, compared to what your needs are and put together a game plan for how to improve your diet, improve your nutrition habits to help you meet what you need on a daily basis. So that’s kind of one component of the nutrition plan.
We also look at race day planning, meal planning, and so much more.
I am accepting clients starting next week. So what you can do is if you just want to learn more about it I do like to speak to my clients before we actually start working together. So what you can do is in the show notes or if you have me on Instagram at Andrea dietician, If you go to the link in my bio on Instagram, or like I said, these show notes of this podcast, there’s a link to apply to my one-to-one program.
So you just fill out some information and then I book a call with you and chat a little bit more about that.
All right, guys. Thanks so much for tuning into today’s episode. Stay tuned for next week. We’re wrapping up this series. We’re talking all about fats. I’m excited to talk about this because I know that when it comes to endurance nutrition. I think we’re really focusing on carbohydrates. That’s your fuel.
We focus on protein. That’s recovery. But what about fats? So you’re going to learn all about that next week. So make sure you subscribe to the podcast and I would love it if you could leave a rating or review, or just share this with your fellow training buddies.
It’s just really helps to get the podcast out there. So thanks again and have a great week.