Hi,
My wife and I have been ovo-lacto vegetarians for many years and recently we decided to become true vegans; in fact we pondering on raw-food-only veganism. So far it was very easy to intake any amount of protein, as cheese, cottage cheese, fromage frais etc are very protein rich while not that bad calorie-wise, but now it will be somewhat trickier I guess. Although I love all sorts of nuts which are full with protein (and calories ), but my wife loves fruits only and a few vegetables.
My questions is not really about the protein content of various vegan foods but much rather about the daily amount of protein we REALLY need. I tell you about this question in more detail below, but first a few words about us, just to put the question in some context. We are both in our mid 30's, both 6 foot tall, normal weight (70-80kg, okay, after Christmas we now probably have a few extra pounds ), my wife does medium physical work while I do half office/half light physical work job, and we both do exercises and relatively long cardio sessions every other day, with occasional 5-6 miles runs, intense squash matches, and I also do road cycling and swimming. We both try to be/stay somewhat muscular, but not in the body builder sense, while having flexibility (we do stretching as well) and excellent stamina.
So back to the question. I read many articles contradicting each other on the daily amount of protein we need. Now I am (we are) totally confused and have no idea how much protein we REALLY need. I think many of you in this forum/topic know a lot more about this than us so can help us with some info. So far I thought somebody with a lifestyle and body weight/type like ours needs around 100 grams of protein per day, and even more when doing exercises/sports. My wife thought we needed only 20-40 grams. That is a big difference. So we started to read articles, and now we don't know what to think.
On one hand, many articles say that you need 0.8 to 1 grams protein / each kg body weight, and 1.5 to 2 times more than this when doing heavy exercises; otherwise you basically starve, as starvation means not having enough protein. Others say 56 grams of protein for men and 46 grams for women, but more if doing exercises. Many say that the protein needs to be "complete". Many sportsmen say that is very important to consume lots of protein (30-50g) after the workout sessions so muscles can build/rebuild. Some articles even add that low protein intakes can cause quite serious health problems.
On the other hand, many other articles say that you need only 10-30 grams protein daily. Some say that aboriginal tribes living the old way intake only 10-20 grams of protein daily and they are much healthier than "Western/modern" man. There was an article from the Max Planck Institute which said 25 grams of protein daily is plenty. And there diets like the 80/10/10 diet which talks about eating 10% protein rich food only. Plus there are those super marathon runners who live on vegetables and fruits only and if you add together their total daily protein you barely got more than 30g daily. In many forums I saw photos of quite muscular, almost body-builder men and women who consume quite low amounts of protein. And guess what: some articles say that high protein intakes (by "high" some mean 200-300 grams but some other articles mean only 100 grams or more) can cause quite serious health problems (ranging from arthritis through kidney damage to cancer even...). Oh, and many, even in this very forum say that all protein is "complete", there is no "non-complete" protein.
So please share your information and thoughts on this with me. Knowing our body type and lifestyle, how much protein should we have each day? 20g? 40g? 60g? 80g? 100g? 100+g? Is there "non-complete" protein or there is only "complete" protein? We don't know what to think anymore. We don't want to lose muscle weight because of insufficient amount of protein (but we are not eager to gain more either). So far I had approx 100 grams while my wife had around 40 grams protein per day on average. (And yes, I look more muscular/strong but hey, I am the man maybe that's why and has nothing to do with the 2.5x times more protein intake...). Any info/thought/advice appreciated, and especially if you can explain this really works and why version A or B is true and the other is false etc. Also, if you have been following a specific pattern (such as 25g protein daily or 100+g protein daily) for many years then I am especially curious about your own experience too.
Thank you in advance,
Attila & Erica
P.S. Sorry for the long question/explanation that is maybe the longest question ever
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