Protein Powder Supplements

You probably know you need protein in your diet, and you likely have an idea of where you can find it. Meat, nuts, and eggs may all come to mind when you think of protein-rich foods, and perhaps you’ve even tried supplements like protein bars or whey protein powders. But do you know what protein is, exactly, and what it does for your body?

Protein is a macronutrient, which means it’s a substance that you need to stay alive. Protein is basically the building block of life; it helps to repair and build tissues and muscle. Here’s what else you need to know about protein, including how much of it you should be getting a day.

Made up of amino acids, it is a building block for your muscles, bones, skin, cartilage, and blood. Protein helps you build muscle mass, keeps your immune system strong, balances your hormones, and helps give you that full feeling after you eat.

Everyone’s protein needs are slightly different, but the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is a minimum of 0.8 grams per kilogram of your body weight. Your age, weight, height, whether you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, and how often you exercise also factor in. For example, if you’re an active 30-year-old woman who is 140 pounds and five-foot-six, you’ll need about 51 grams of protein a day, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). That requirement changes slightly if, for example, you’re breastfeeding (you may need more), you’re sedentary (you may need less), or you weigh more or less.

What happens if you don’t get enough protein? Given that protein is an essential nutrient, not getting enough can wreak havoc on your body. Protein deficiency may reduce your muscle mass and therefore your metabolism, as well as lead to hair loss, skin patches, and difficulty losing weight. Your immune system also might be compromised over time, Gans notes, making you likelier to get sick and more affected when you do.

What happens when you get too much protein? In the short term, you’ll probably be OK if you consume a little more protein than recommended surplus protein can lead to an increase in ammonia within the body, but this is easily cleared with a slight increase of water in the healthy adult. But if you’re on a high-protein diet for a long period of time, you can develop a condition known as hypercalcemia, which causes elevated levels of calcium in your urine. Those higher-than-normal levels of calcium can happen when your body starts to break down your bone and can lead to kidney stones and kidney failure.

You can get protein from many different sources, per the USDA, including meat such as beef, pork, and poultry; seafood; beans and lentils; eggs; dairy; and soy products, nuts, and seeds. Some nutritionists emphasize the nutritional value of lean meat, since Non-animal sources of protein do not contain all of the amino acids [or proteins] that are necessary for life. That doesn’t mean they’re bad, per se, they just don’t have all of the range of proteins you’d get if you were to eat animal products.