3 Protein Best Practices, From An Amino Acid Requirements Researcher

In short: Layman is the guy when it comes to protein. And if you're serious about getting enough protein, you'll want to consider his best practices ahead: 

So, he draws a hard line in the sand when it comes to protein intake: "If you're worried about general health, you should be above 100 [grams]," Layman continues. Of course, that specific number may vary depending on your height, weight, and lifestyle. "If you're an athlete that weighs 200+ pounds, you're probably going to want to be in the 160 [gram] range," he adds. "I like real numbers. I think they give people much more 'meat' to sink their teeth into." 

"Doug Paddon-Jones, Ph.D., and I did an experiment2," he recounts, "We were looking at this distribution question, realizing that the average American is eating around 90 grams [of protein] per day, but they're eating 60% of it or more at dinner." In this experiment, Layman decided to redistribute those 90 grams evenly throughout daily meals—so 30 grams during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. "What we found is that with the exact same calories, the exact same protein per day, we got a higher level of daily protein synthesis just by moving it from dinner to breakfast," he notes. Perhaps think about adding a high-protein breakfast to your morning menu. 

Leucine activates mTOR, a signaling pathway that's responsible for stimulating protein synthesis3. "In whey protein, leucine is about 12%, so 23 grams of whey protein isolate will trigger it. Whereas in soy protein isolate, it's about 7.8%, so now you need 33 or 34 grams. So all proteins aren't equal," says Layman. That's not to say you can't get enough protein on a plant-based diet. "But you have to realize you will always need more total protein, and that means more total calories, to be equal," adds Layman. And check that leucine count on your protein powders—it matters. 

Now, this is somewhat of an emerging area (that's why we covered it in our 2023 Wellness Trend forecast!), and we need more research to say, definitively, how much protein you actually need. But we can all agree that prioritizing protein intake is a good idea for your overall healthspan. And if you're serious about building muscle, don't forget to add resistance exercise to the rotation: "You can't eat your way into more muscle," Layman adds, and strength training is just as important for longevity.

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