Protein Requirments for ATHLETES

Due to a few fellow students concern about protein requirements for people who are active here is a follow up to those questions. This article is from the ACE, the American Council of Exercise. To give a summary the article says that athletes primary fuel source is carbohydrates as we all know. Correct me if I am wrong but when you are an athlete 70% of your diet should be carbohydrates.

The article goes on to say that athletes DO NOT need more protein for competitive weight lifting saying, "The ADA does not support the notion that the protein needs of a competitive weight lifter are greater than the average individual. The official ADA position is that a well-balanced diet will provide the dietary protein a weight lifter needs."

The article did mention a person that works out at high intense aerobic such as a competitve runner, cyclist saying, "The American Dietetic Association (ADA) recommends increased protein intake only for individuals involved in intense aerobic training (greater than 70 percent VO² max). "

YET you have to take into consideration "that since average Americans, including most athletes, already consume one-and-a-half to two times the RDA, it would appear that athletes do not need to increase their protein intake."

If you want to check out the original article: http://www.acefitness.org/fitfacts/fitnessqa_display.aspx?itemid=271

Protein Calculator

This website lets you put in your weight in (kg) and then gives you a rough estimate of how much protein you should consure. Try it out, its interesting.

http://www.gazza.net.nz/2007/09/18/protein-calculator-protein-requirement/

Protein Requirments

According to the Dietary Reference Intake guidelines, women aged 19–70 need to consume 46 grams of protein per day. Men aged 19–70 need to consume 56 grams of protein per day to avoid a deficiency. The difference is due to the fact that men's bodies generally have more muscle mass than those of women.

Excess Protein Consumption

The body is unable to store protein therefore excess protein is broken down and converted into sugars or fatty acids. The liver removes nitrogen from the amino acids, so that they can be burned as fuel, and the nitrogen is incorporated into urea, the substance that is excreted by the kidneys. These organs can normally cope with any extra workload but if kidney disease occurs, a decrease in protein will often be prescribed.

Excessive protein intake may also cause the body to lose calcium, which could lead to bone loss in the long-term. However, many protein powders, for instance, come supplemented with various amounts of calcium per serving size so as to counteract the calcium-loss effect.
Some suspect excessive protein intake is linked to several problems:
Overreaction within the immune system
Liver dysfunction due to increased toxic residues
Loss of bone density, frailty of bones is due to calcium and glutamine being leached from bone and muscle tissue to balance increased acid intake from diet (blood pH is maintained at around 7.4). This effect is not present if intake of alkaline minerals (from fruits and vegetables, cereals are acidic as are proteins, fats are neutral) is high. In such cases, protein intake is anabolic to bone.

Many researchers think excessive intake of protein forces increased calcium excretion. If there is to be excessive intake of protein, it is thought that a regular intake of calcium would be able to stabilize, or even increase the uptake of calcium by the small intestine, which would be more beneficial in older women.

Protein Diet for a Vegan Can Be Done

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm#table1