Balance The Protein You Eat

Balance The Protein You Eat

When you eat proteins such as meats, eggs, or beans, they are broken down during digestion into individual amino acids which can be used by the body to make other body proteins. In order to build muscle, it’s important to balance the protein you eat with the protein your body naturally loses every day in order to reach your goals.

Every day, nitrogen comes into your body from the proteins in your diet and is lost naturally in waste from your urinary and digestive tracts, sweating, and shedding of hair or skin cells. Without enough calories or protein to keep the body functioning properly, the body may be forced to break down its own protein sources for fuel such as your muscle.

Growing muscle

For strength athletes, protein needs have been estimated to be about 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (one kilogram = 2.2 pounds). For individuals who are aiming to build muscle mass through a combination of strength training and a proper diet, adequate protein is necessary to encourage muscle repair and growth. So, for an 80 kg (175 pounds) athlete, 120 to 160 grams of protein per day would be suggested.

It’s also important that you spread your protein intake over the course of the day and consume the best types of protein to maximize muscle protein synthesis. After a workout, dairy protein sources such as casein and whey are suggested. It’s necessary to consume enough calories in order to tip nitrogen balance in your favor.

Sometimes an athlete may cut too many calories in order to quickly build muscle and lose fat at the same time. But when calories are cut too much, some of the protein that is being eaten might be used for fuel, rather than to build and repair muscle.

When are you in nitrogen balance?

When you are in nitrogen balance, it means that the amount of nitrogen going in and the amount that is leaving the body are roughly the same. Nitrogen balance refers to the balance between the nitrogen coming into the body and the nitrogen that is being lost.

Most healthy adults are in nitrogen equilibrium, which means that the amount of protein they are taking in is enough to maintain and repair body proteins. Any excess nitrogen is simply excreted from the body. When someone is in a negative nitrogen balance, it means that more nitrogen is leaving the body than is coming in.

When the body is in positive nitrogen balance, the body is retaining nitrogen so it can use it to build and repair tissues, such as muscle, or to manufacture other important body proteins such as hormones.