The FastDay Forum

I was under the impression that we only need around an ounce of protein a day. That's all the body metabolises. It's an eighth of a chicken breast. Why is everyone so worried about their protein intake? I can't imagine any diet where you would be deficient under normal circumstances. Please explain.

Short explanation - you were wrong.

Longer explanation - recommended protein intake tends to be 0.8g/kg of body weight....


http://www.npt.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=3360 says 45g of protein for women, 55g for men. 2 ozs. Or 55g in http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/nutguideuk.pdf

One ozs is about right for a 10 year old.

Even If you accept those recommendations it's still only a quarter of a chicken breast. So again - where is the problem?

55g of protein is more chicken than I would eat at a meal. It's also more than a Tesco chicken breast http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/ ... =275463687

The "problem" as you put it is knowing what is the correct amount of protein to eat on an IF diet. If looking for health benefits then you may want to keep it low, to reduce IGF-1 etc, so you wouldn't want to eat the "standard" RDI.

Thanks for that. I do have a bit of a hang-up with (animal) protein. I think we have a love affair with it and generally consume way too much.

[carorees]

Catscratch, just to clarify, a gram of protein goes not equal a gram of meat, so to get 55g protein from chicken you would need to eat about 175g, which would be a massive portion!

From memory it was the same meal plan as at http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/90/5/ ... nsion.html - will check later...

Would be good if you are able to confirm, because that trial was several years previous it seems. Thanks.

Yes. I understand that now. Thank you. I'm not sure that I agree that 175g of chicken is a 'massive' portion though.

[carorees]

Yes. I understand that now. Thank you. I'm not sure that I agree that 175g of chicken is a 'massive' portion though.

Perhaps it just seems massive to me since my appetite adjustment via 5:2!

I'm not sure that I agree that 175g of chicken is a 'massive' portion though.

None of us got here by underestimating our requirements

Would be good if you are able to confirm, because that trial was several years previous it seems. Thanks.

I edited in the confirmation - the stuff at the bottom is from the current paper and shows the nutrients but not the actual foods.

ok thanks, that says 75g of protein (300 cal) per 2000 cal, which seems plenty, but it doesn't say how these were consumed. Did they ensure that subjects got their full 75g of protein at the one meal on a fast day? How much protein did they take in on the previous evening?

The time lapse from prev evening to fast day lunch is 18 hours, and then another 18 hours through to next breakfast, so I would like to see how much protein they were given to cover them through these periods? If the info is available...

ok thanks, that says 75g of protein (300 cal) per 2000 cal, which seems plenty, but it doesn't say how these were consumed. Did they ensure that subjects got their full 75g of protein at the one meal on a fast day? How much protein did they take in on the previous evening?

The time lapse from prev evening to fast day lunch is 18 hours, and then another 18 hours through to next breakfast, so I would like to see how much protein they were given to cover them through these periods? If the info is available...

The breakdown for 2000 calories is indicative. On fast days they get 25% of needs with the macronutrients pro-rata so they do not get 75g of protein on their fast day, they get TDEE * 0.25 * 0.15 / 4 grams at lunchtime.

I'll re-quote you what it said again, have another read and try not to overthink it :-

Subjects were provided with 3 calorie-restricted meals on each feed day and one calorie restricted meal on each fast day. The feed/fast days began at midnight each day. Fast day meals were consumed between 12.00 pm and 2.00 pm to ensure that each subject was undergoing the same duration of fasting. The feed day meals consisted of a breakfast (1/3 of daily calories), lunch (1/3 of daily calories), and dinner (1/3 of daily calories). Subjects were instructed to consume the entire breakfast meal between 6.00 am and 8.00 am, the entire lunch meal between 12.00 pm and 2.00 pm, and the entire dinner meal between 6.00 pm and 8.00 pm.

So between 6 and 8pm on a feed day they get TDEE * 1.25 * 0.15 / 3 / 4 grams of protein for dinner then the same for breakfast the next feed day.

Absolutely Phil. There's very few people on this forum that don't need some readjustment to their portion control. I just don't think that 1 chicken breast could be described as 'massive'. The 32oz steak the guy in the pub down the road tempts people to attempt to eat for free if they cleat their plate, that's massive.

thanks Phil, so a person with TDEE of 2000 would get 25g of protein for the dinner preceding a fast day and, presumably, though I don't see where it is explicitly stated, 19g of protein for their one meal (lunch) on the fast day. After each of these meals they then went 18 hours without any more food (protein), and clearly didn't suffer any muscle loss.

That's very helpful. Are there any studies looking at slightly longer periods i.e. 24 hours with no protein intake? Dr Lau's comments, quoted and not disputed by Dr M, suggest that their is evidence of muscle damage within the first 24 hours of a protein fast...