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How Much Protein Women Actually Need & How To Get It

October 15, 2024

Women are made of protein. Protein is what makes up our hair, nails and muscles yes, but also our bones, enzymes, certain hormones, skin and is even a component of blood. Protein is key to literally every cell of your body.

Protein will help support our bones and muscles to keep us strong and agile as we age. It supports our skin and connective tissue to keep our skin tighter and more elastic and our joints healthy and less creaky.

Protein is the trickiest thing I talk about with my patients and certainly online as well. While it’s a popular nutrition topic these days it’s still very misunderstood in terms of protein sources (i.e. plant vs. animal protein), how much we need (RDA vs. optimal) and how much we are actually getting (i.e. that 3 egg omelet only has 15g protein vs. a chicken breast having closer to 30g).

The good news is that once you figure out how to get adequate protein, I have yet to have even one woman not report feeling so much better because of it. While it may take you a second to understand how you’re coming up so short every day and approach your protein intake a bit differently, in the end it’s actually one of the easier habits to implement and stick with!

This article will help you understand why women need more protein and how to get it in every day.

 

Low Protein Intake Feels Lousy

Because of its impact on our blood sugar, without adequate protein it’s easy to feel unsatisfied at meals leading to overeating and wondering why our brain feels like fluff.

Without balanced blood sugar we can suffer from low energy, brain fog and difficulty controlling our mood and our cravings. When we undereat protein, not only do we physically not feel great, psychologically we aren’t doing great either. As we battle cravings thanks to low blood sugar we  beat ourselves up for not having more willpower around snacks and sweets. As our brain struggles to make neurotransmitters due to low amino acids from not getting enough protein, we feel less motivated and less clear headed. We ask “what’s wrong with me” when we find ourselves less productive and able to stick with those habits like exercise that work well for us. There’s nothing wrong with you and much of this is remedied with beefing up your protein intake (pun intended).

 

Women’s Protein Needs Become Even More Important As We Age

Muscle mass is where that “good metabolism” we’re always searching for actually is located.  Protein is key for building lean mass but due to hormone shifts, this gets increasingly harder as we age.

Even as early as 35, women can experience hormone changes that will then ramp up during our 40s and as we enter perimenopause. As estrogen and testosterone decline we have a harder time building lean muscle – and an easier time storing more body fat. Our body does this in part to combat declining hormones and in part due to rising inflammation as estrogen wanes. Net result: lower muscle mass and both strength training and adequate protein intake can combat this to help us look and feel our best.

 

Think You Are Getting Enough Protein? Might Be Time To Think Again

Ensuring adequate protein is one of the best ways to improve body composition (i.e. lose body fat and gain lean muscle), get even energy throughout the day, have a better mood and more clear thinking as well as improve testing such as blood sugar markers, cholesterol and inflammation as well as various hormone parameters as well.

Who doesn’t want this? Of course, we all do!

Most likely you’ve heard about the benefits of protein: so why are we still even talking about this? There has been a big focus on protein but we are still missing some key concepts that will really help us reap all the its benefits.

 

While most women know they need to be focusing on getting more protein and even those that are aiming for higher protein intakes are often falling short of these daily goals and here are three reasons why:

Many women are mindful of protein but they are following very outdated advice based on the RDA which is drastically low for optimal health and body comp. I’m going to cover all that below.

Many women are of the mind that plant based proteins are adequate to hit our protein needs. I unpack all of the issues with this idea in this post.

And lastly, even those of us clear on the importance and are making an effort to eat it can simply overestimate how much protein we are actually getting. We know that we are eating protein at every meal but often it’s 2 eggs for breakfast and a serving of chicken for lunch and a few nuts with our apple for a snack which surprisingly might only be half of what our target should be.

How Much Protein Do Women Need?

First, let’s address the Recommended Daily Allowance or RDA which is set as the MINIMUM required amount of protein to avoid disease and death.

So this amount is very much baseline, bare minimum to not get sick and get un-alive but who wants that bar set so low? For optimal health and function as well as building lean mass, maintaining body comp, having good energy and healthy bones, joints, hair, skin and nails then we need 100g per day at a minimum, not 0.36 g per pound (or 0.8g per kg) body weight set as the RDA.

Adequate by most experts is considered to be a minimum of 100g per day and is closer to 1g per pound of lean mass or 1g per pound of ideal body weight. Do the math on that and look at your daily protein intake. Go ahead, I’ll wait for you right here…

Less than you thought? It often is. You might be shocked to see that for all your efforts you’re coming in at closer to 70g per day – or maybe even less?

You are not alone. Most women in my practice are coming up short too! If I’m not careful I struggle to hit it too. Being mindful of protein intake is job one, so if you are already getting some protein in your meals you’re well on your way.

However, if you’ve been hoping to get enough protein with that quinoa salad for lunch, after reading this you may be extra surprised how low your daily number actually is. Bringing with it 40g of carbs, a cup of quinoa only has 8g of protein despite being labeled as a “high protein grain”.

As you calculate your daily protein intake, if some or even most of that is from plant based sources like legumes, grains or nuts you might be seeing where your efforts of eating more protein aren’t as effective as you’d hoped. There are several issues with using plant based proteins – some of which can be remedied by adequate supplementation but not all – and I cover this in this article.

But when it comes down to the numbers it’s important to know that plant protein is less easily absorbed than animal protein so it’s suggested you half the amount of protein you’re getting from plant sources. For example if a pea protein shake says it’s got 12g of protein in it, assume you are likely getting closer to 6g.

As well, if muscle protein synthesis (i.e. MPS or the building of lean, metabolically active muscle mass) is a goal, we also need 3g of the specific amino acid leucine – which is very low in plant based proteins – to accomplish this.

I unpack exactly how we build muscle and how we need to trigger repair and rebuilding of muscle known as MPS or muscle protein synthesis in more detail in this article.

 

How to Get Optimal Protein Intake Every Day

While I’m not a fan of a lot of tracking, it is worth it to know for sure what you’re getting currently and then what a day of food looks like when you’re getting 100 or more grams.

Examples of 30g protein

  • 5 oz chicken
  • 1 cup ground beef (32g)
  • 5 oz steak
  • 6 oz salmon
  • 4 oz pork chop
  • 10 larger shrimp

 

Diary is a mixed food as it does contain lactose and that can cause a higher blood sugar rise for some women vs. a protein equivalent of chicken or steak, etc. This rise in blood sugar may also be due to inflammation if someone has a dairy sensitivity. However, whey protein found in dairy or whey based protein shakes is a great source of protein if it works for you and doesn’t cause inflammation or blood sugar swings.

Examples of 30g protein from dairy:

  • 1 cup cottage cheese
  • 1.5 cups Greek Yogurt
  • 1.5 scoops whey protein powder

 

How About Eggs:

They can be another great protein source that has high nutritional value (inducing nutrients we don’t get much of elsewhere like choline which is great for hormones, neurological health, joints, etc.) but it is a mixed bag as well considering we need 5 eggs to get 25-30g of protein depending on the size of the egg and this will bring with it 25g-30g of fat as well. Again not “bad” but just for consideration when it comes to total fat intake and calories.

As well, most women do not eat 5 eggs for breakfast. When we utilize eggs for protein consider doing 2-3 eggs with some other source or protein like chicken sausage, ground beef or turkey, chicken breast, etc. added to their scramble or omelet.

What About Collagen?

I cover collagen more extensively in this article but short answer is that collagen supplements are great for improving the health of our bones, connective tissues, hair, skin and nails but because of they do not contain the amino acid profile that muscle meat does (i.e. steak, chicken breast, fish filet, etc.) and thus they do not contribute to the metabolic effects and lean muscle growth that dietary protein does they should not be counted towards your daily protein intake.

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WORK W/ DR. BROOKE

Again, I cover all the ins and outs of collagen: whole collagen or native collagen, collagen peptides, “vegan” collagen and how to dose here, but think of collagen supplements as just that: a supplement vs. a dietary source of protein. Collagen is great, but many women count that scoop of peptides in their coffee towards their 100g plus per day goal and we really shouldn’t. Again, collagen has a lot of benefits and I do recommend it, just consider it like I do nuts: bonus protein.

If you don’t tolerate collagen well, it may be due to it’s high histidine content which can trigger histamine issues. More on that here.

 

Here’s an example of 120g of protein per day as it looks for me: 

Breakfast: leftover dinner such as a 4oz grilled or baked pork chop OR 1 cup ground beef or turkey (which is often cooked in my fridge), with handful of raw veggies (salad greens, cucumbers)

Lunch: another 1 cup of ground beef or turkey OR 5oz chicken breast over salad

Snack: 1 cup cottage cheese with blueberries and a few walnuts

Dinner: salad with 10 shrimp or 5oz chicken (grilled, baked or shredded in Instant Pot) or 6oz grilled salmon with veggies

I usually do a very simple salad of greens or use easy roasted veggies or a family fav: steamed or air fried broccoli, Brussel sprouts or cauliflower with olive oil and seasoning salt blend. I will always cook enough dinner for lunch and maybe breakfast the next day. It’s simply about finding a few relatively easy options on hand to make it happen.

 

Always Have These On Hand

I always have a pound of grass fed beef or ground turkey in my fridge that I quickly cook up with salt and pepper or with a diced clove of garlic, half a diced onion and a few ribs of chopped celery if I have them on hand.

I also keep a few quick proteins on hand  for snacks such as: grass fed whey protein powder , grass fed meat sticks such as those from PaleoValley or Chomps.

 

Also in my kitchen for quick protein options that are no cook or low effort cook:

Canned wild caught salmon to make an easy salmon salad with bit of avocado mayo and seasoning salt at least and if I have time few capers, chopped scallions or diced purple onion and celery; or the Snappy Salmon Patties from my book Hangry. I pair these with a handful or two of greens or stuff the salmon salad into a cleaned, de-seeded bell pepper or simply with a sliced cucumber.

Hard boiled eggs are also a great thing to have on hand for breakfast, snacks or to add to a salad.

Do you make your hard boiled eggs in the Instant Pot? You should! 1 cup of water with the eggs, cook for 1-3 minutes depending on how soft you like your yolks, for me 2 minutes is perfection. When time is up, quickly release heat and transfer cooked eggs to an ice bath.

And by all means make friends with your Instant Pot for a host of batch cooked, quick proteins like simple shredded chicken because you can serve it so many ways: with salsa, cilantro and cabbage for Mexican flare; with a Greek Style salad with feta, romaine and tomato or super simply with steamed veggies or over greens or simply next to those roasted veggies or a few handfuls of lettuce or spinach. Have a fav salad dressing or two on hand as well, #letitbeeasy.

 

Chicken Breast For Breakfast??

In the cooler months breakfast and lunch for me are often leftover like chili or meatloaf, I know that might sound strange but it works and it’s easy. And if I do a breakfast of eggs I will add an additional few grams of protein to round it out like chicken sausages or ground turkey (or even shrimp or lobster if I’m feeling fancy) because eggs alone make it tough to hit 30-40g of protein as I mentioned above.

It can take a bit of adjustment to your palette to have a chicken breast, ground meat or left over dinner for breakfast if you’re used to a more carby, less savory breakfast but once you get your head around this change it opens up a whole new world of breakfast options that aren’t limited to bacon and eggs for protein. And left over dinner is about the easiest breakfast around!

 

This feels like a lot of cooking and counting….

It might take some time to strategize how to get these numbers without feeling like have to cook all the time but once you find 2-3 options that work for you, keep it simple and rotate those. Experiment with new recipes as you have the bandwidth and honestly: just don’t over think it.

And yes, initially you might have to count it out and get a sense of what 30g of chicken actually looks like. As well, you’ll start paying closer attention to that salad with chicken you picked up for lunch which is often closer to 15g than 30g – but soon you’ll be ordering “double chicken” as a habit.

But 30g will always be 30g, so once you figure it out you will not constantly be counting but rather just eating in this protein forward way like second nature. I promise in a week or two you’ll be clear on what your meals should look like and counting will be completely unnecessary

In time this will not feel like work, it’s just how you eat and your improved energy, body comp, mental clarity and blood work will all be worth it. You got this.

Is adequate protein every day an act of self-love? I think so!

Work With Dr. Brooke

It’s My Mission to Help You!

WORK W/ DR. BROOKE
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