 Hey everybody, Dr. O here. Welcome back to the finding your fat loss sweet spot series real quick update on Oliver Thank you so much for the well wishes and the prayers and the positive thoughts He's doing great. His brain MRI was perfect and he is getting a little better every day So he was even able to go jump on the trampoline for a little bit without getting a headache So that was a huge step for us. All right, so let's we're back to our fat loss sweet spot series We're still talking about eating enough protein So in the last video we covered why it's important to optimize your protein intake and consume a moderate to high amount of protein In this video, we will cover how there will be some math So I'm going to share examples to make it easier for you to run the numbers for yourself as we move in All right before we get started with setting our protein targets, though I want to assume I'm assuming a couple things here number one You are in a calorie deficit because you're trying to lose fat. This is the fat loss sweet spot series number two You are hopefully physically active and strength training if you've been watching my videos and number three I'm also assuming that you're healthy, right? Work with your doctor if you have any condition that could impact your protein needs one direction or the other Okay, so protein is our top priority. So how do we set our protein targets? There's a couple ways to do that and I'll share both of them with you So here we see a good general starting point is that you should get 20 to 35 percent of your calories from protein So you take your total number of calories how much food you're eating in a day number of calories times the protein percent So take a times 20 percent if you want to be on the lower end take a times 35 percent if you want to be on the higher end That's going to tell you how many calories of protein you should eat But each gram of protein has four calories So take the number of protein calories you're eating and divide that by four to get the number of grams of protein You should eat in the day. So if you run the numbers, let me give you some ranges here Your protein range then would be 75 to 131 grams of protein per day if you're eating 1500 calories It would be between a hundred and a hundred and 75 grams per day if you're eating 2,000 calories And it would be between 125 and 219 grams per day if you're eating 2,500 calories, which is very close to where I'm at So this is a very solid place to start but there is a better way to determine your protein needs So let's look at protein intake based on your body weight or more specifically your goal weight All right, but before we do we before we talk about the protein range looking at goal weight We have to talk we have to start by talking about what not to do and that is not to use the RDA in my opinion So the RDA for sedentary adults is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight, which would be 0.36 grams per pound This would be about 80 grams of protein for me and it would be about 54 grams of protein for someone who weighs 150 pounds So if you think that's enough protein, especially in a calorie deficit go back and re-watch the last video because it is not I looked at studies that were directly comparing 0.8 grams per kilogram to higher numbers and the higher numbers won in every study So where'd it come from? Why do we have this number? The first RDAs for protein were set in 1941 by the US National Research Council They did so at the request of the National Defense Advisory Commission So why they were developed to help food relief efforts to deal with starvation and malnutrition caused by war and crippling economic depression, right? Does this sound like goals for optimal health to you? Absolutely not So what does the science say about optimal protein intake for fat loss and preserving lean mass? And it is not 0.8 grams per kilogram per day So here's the numbers 99% of all protein experts are going to be right within this range. So this is a very good range It is between 1.6 and 2.2 grams per kilogram of goal weight per day That would be 0.73 to 1 gram per pound of goal weight So this protein intake is usually talked about in grams per kilogram of goal weight and that's very important There's no reason to aim for 300 to 400 grams of protein per day if you have a lot of weight to lose like I did Right? If you use your current body weight, you're also factoring in the 50 or 75 or 100 pounds of fat you're carrying around We really need to only feed our lean mass protein So if you think about your goal weight, that's going to put you in a much better place I mean you could specifically look at using protein grams per kilogram of lean body mass if you know what your lean body mass is Based on DEXA scans or other tests So let's just we'll start with we'll focus on goal weight though So you take your goal weight in pounds and divide it by 2.2 to get your goal weight in kilograms For those of you that use pounds like I do I've also made the conversions for you right here on the screen in a few places so you can just look at those So 1.6 grams per kilogram is 0.73 grams per pound 1.8 grams per kilogram is 0.82 grams per pound and then 2.2 grams per kilogram is 1 gram per pound nice and easy That's actually why a lot of times you do hear this you hear to aim for 1 gram per pound of goal weight It's a nice and easy target easy to remember easy for most people to implement But you don't really need to go that high So what I like to say is I always say to aim for 1 gram per pound of goal weight because you're fine if you just get close So if you aim for 2.2 grams per kilogram or 1 gram per pound of your goal weight And you end up getting 1.8 grams per kilogram Which is that 0.82 grams per pound you're probably just fine according to the majority of the studies Right so most studies show that the being in the 1.6 to 1.8 range will get you where you need to be So if you shoot high and you and you end up falling a little bit short You're probably right in the sweet spot anyways So I tell people to aim high though because a lot of people eat way too little protein and have a hard time getting enough I have my students do diet analysis projects So I see tons of people's protein intake and I am shocked at how many aren't even meeting the RDA Which we now know is less than half of what is optimal for preserving lean mass So I would rather have most people aim a little too high than too low All right, so let's look at some examples if you weigh 150 pounds that would be 68 kilograms So this would give you a protein range of between a hundred and ten and a hundred and fifty grams of protein per day If your goal weight is a hundred and eighty pounds, which would be 82 kilograms This would give you a protein range of between a hundred and thirty one and a hundred and eighty grams per day So obviously scale that up or down if your goal weight is higher or lower than that So now it's your turn if you're measuring in pounds So you determine your goal weight and pounds take that goal weight times zero point seven three write it down Take that goal weight times one thought you'd be an easy one write it down You now know your protein range your protein range is between blank and blank grams per day That's in pounds if you're doing it in kilograms you determine your goal weight in kilograms Take that goal weight times one point six write it down Take that goal weight times two point two write it down and now you know your protein range is between blank and blank grams per day Please reach out. I'll gladly help you with the math whether you're using percentages or using these numbers Just let me know What your goal weight is how many calories you eat and I'll help you run the numbers. It would be my pleasure Let me get a drink here quick So now we have this range right we have the range that will be beneficial for the huge majority of people Some studies say going a little above this is beneficial Some say you can go a little below But this is the target range for almost every human who's physically active Exercising and on a diet and that's who I'm talking to here So like I said most people though would end up being just fine here in the middle Which is one eight one point eight grams per kilogram of body weight. That's that's great for most people Who should aim higher than that who should make sure they're getting really close to that one gram per pound number? You should aim for the higher end if you're in a steep calorie deficit, right? If you if you're if you're cutting your calories quite a bit and you're losing fat aggressively You have to be extra protective of your lean mass number two if you're highly active, right? You got to fuel your muscles and repair your muscles the more you're using them the more Approaching you need same thing if you're lifting weights, then you're definitely gonna want to be on the higher end You're not even trying to maintain muscle You're trying to build that you're trying to add new muscle Then the last person that I would say and you could be a combination of these of course The last person I would say would definitely want to aim for the higher end is people that are older, right? I'm 45 as you get to 45 50 and beyond you develop something called anabolic resistance And that basically means that you need more protein per meal to stimulate the same amount of muscle protein synthesis That somebody younger would so you want to air you want to air on the side of caution and consume a little extra protein as you get older But more is not always better, right? So who's gonna be fine on the lower end of this range the lower end of the range will be fine for people who are sedentary, right? It's still double the RDA and I think it's good You don't need as much protein if you have less muscle to begin with or less muscle to maintain and you also don't need as much protein If your muscles don't need to be repaired as often because you're not using them as much So aim for 2.2 if you're very physically active and trying to build muscle Most people good in the middle you can aim for the lower end if you're sedentary But hopefully if you're trying to lose fat, you're not super sedentary because of the what I've taught you in this video series All right, but who'd want less than this and I see on the screen I've added 1.5 grams per kilogram, which is 0.68 grams per pound and 1.2 grams per kilogram, which is 0.55 grams per pound So there are very few people that I would recommend this for but there is a use case for it You may want to aim for the lower end of this range 1.6 or even slightly below if you're on a ketogenic diet and you're trying to maximize ketone production now you have to decide if you want to maximize lean mass Preservation or maximize ketone production and that can be confusing because ketones are muscle sparing So it really is hard to decide which direction to go But some people like me can stay in ketosis with higher protein diets, right? I had 220 grams of protein yesterday in four meals and my ketones when I woke up this morning Using my precision extra meter, which is the one that I use for blood And then I use the biosense for my breath acetone or breath ketone meters My ketone levels were 1.8 millimolar this morning. That's with 220 grams of protein that much protein would kick some people out of ketosis But it does not kick me out of ketosis So some people do need to dip lower maybe start with 1.5 and if you're still not getting good ketones Maybe you do have to drip dip a little bit lower if you want to see that big bumping ketones So speaking of that I'm gonna do a separate video soon about tracking your ketone levels to determine What's called your personal protein sweet spot for those you that are keto like I am right? So you'll you'll the goal is to find what is the absolute most protein you can eat and Still be in ketosis at the level that you want because you don't want to go lower than that But you may not want to go higher than that either So I'll do a separate video where I show you how to do that Actually have an entire course coming out next year on low carb and keto diets So please while we're on this topic Let me know if you have any questions or any topics that you want to make sure are covered in these videos and in that course So now we know how much protein we need when should we eat it right meal timings obviously a huge deal because you know Many of you are intermittent fasting and things like that The weight of the evidence says that spreading your protein out evenly over three or more meals in an eight hour Or longer eating window is ideal for muscle protein synthesis and muscle growth. Now notice. I said ideal This does not mean required So let's look at some of the science here I'm gonna cover these pretty quickly because I already covered them in a video and I'll show you that one later Let's look at the science here my oh February muscle protein synthesis rates Subsequent to a meal in response to increasing doses of whey protein at rest and after resistance exercise So first of all whey protein you can probably get by with less protein So so when you look at these whey protein studies I basically like to bump it up a little bit more if we're looking at other protein sources But the results of this study showed that my oh February muscle protein synthesis increased by 49% with 20 grams of whey protein and Jumped up to 56% with 40 grams of whey protein So increasing your protein intake intake at that meal from 20 to 40 grams resulted in extra 10 to 20 percent Higher muscle protein synthesis. So I do think 20 grams per meal is too low And if you asked me to pick a single number I would say 40 grams of protein per meal would be optimal for many many people most people next study dietary protein distribution positively influences 24-hour muscle protein synthesis in healthy adults So they looked at two groups the diets had the same amount of protein and the same number of calories the difference was One group had the protein evenly spread out between three meals and one protein one group eight three meals But they had very little protein in meal one and meal two and then ate the huge majority of their protein at dinner The 24-hour muscle protein synthesis rates were 25% higher in the group that spread their protein out across three meals rather than eating most of their protein at dinner So that's why I think you should evenly spread your protein throughout the day as long as you're reaching that minimal amount per meal I'll give examples in a second last study Moderating the portion size of a protein rich meal improves anabolic efficiency in the young and the elderly This study showed that there is a limit to how much protein your body can use to increase muscle protein synthesis from one meal This group they looked at two two groups one group ate 30 grams of Lean beef in a meal the other group ate 90 grams of lean beef in a meal And the key thing here is so they weren't matched for calories because obviously one group was getting way more protein and way more calories Because they were eating three times as much food 30 grams of protein from that lean beef increased muscle protein synthesis by about 50% but tripling that so despite despite a three-fold increase in protein and Calories there was no further increase in protein synthesis following ingestion of 90 grams of protein So eating 30 grams of protein at one time was the same as 90 grams of protein at one time if you're only looking at one thing Muscle protein synthesis, so I want to also note something though. You can absorb this much protein You can absorb way more than 30 grams of protein in a meal That's not the issue and you and your gut cells can use it and all sorts of things But you can't force more muscle protein synthesis by eating more protein once you get your ceiling if not I'd eat 400 grams of protein per meal and I would look like the Incredible Hulk, but you can't you there is a limit So now we know what before before I get into the details I just want you to know that I did cover these three studies in more detail in this video here if you want to go find that one So what's my general advice based on what we've looked at here? We know we need a minimum amount of protein per meal if we want to stimulate muscle protein synthesis So I definitely wouldn't recommend less than 20 grams and I feel like 20 isn't optimal So I generally recommend between 30 and 60 grams of protein per meal depending on your age your size The quality of your protein sources and the number of meals you eat in a day So but if I by I told you if I had to pick one number I would say that 40 is optimal for most people it appears to be where you Maximize muscle protein synthesis without just eating a bunch of extra protein that's being turned into fuel So how does this look so 30 to 60 grams of protein? It how that looks depends on your total like how much protein you're gonna eat in a day So let's look at some examples. Let's I'll start with myself. So I aim for around 200 grams of protein per day Some days, it's you know 185 190 some days like yesterday gets up to 220 So just that's that's kind of the range that I'm in but I aim for 200 grams of protein So 50 grams of protein four times per day makes the most sense for me Right, I don't want to have to eat more than four times per day And I'm talking about on my eating days obviously because there are fast there are days that I'm fasting, but I Don't want to have to eat more than four meals So if I spread it out into five or six meals, it's just it's too much I don't want to deal with that but on the flip side I also wouldn't get as much benefit if I was eating 70 grams of protein three times per day Right that much protein would kick me out of ketosis 50 or 60 grams at a time does not But 70 grams of protein in a meal kicks me out of ketosis and I'll send a burning more of that for protein for fuel anyways So for me 50 grams of protein four times a day is the best way to get to 200 grams But let's say that your goal is a hundred and sixty grams Well, you do 40 grams of protein four times per day would work really good, too but the key is to Definitely never go below 20 grams of protein in a meal and probably should never go below 30 grams of protein in one meal What about someone who's aiming for a lower target? So let's say your your goal is a hundred grams of protein per day for that person I'd recommend really two options either eating 30 to 35 grams of protein three times per day because you're probably stimulating muscle protein synthesis as much as you can or 50 grams of protein twice per day because that makes sure you get you get to that 40 gram level Which I really like that's the sweet spot for me I think both would be way better than eating four or five meals per day, right if you're eating 20 grams of protein at a time five times a day You're probably never reaching that threshold where you're fully stimulating muscle protein synthesis So in this situation fewer meals would be better because you're only aiming for a hundred grams of protein So in the end though, you have to kind of play around with this You have to play with different approaches until you figure out what works best for you If you're eating omad or two mad Well, you know the answer maximize your protein intake in those one or two meals If you're if you're fine with trying different things then play with three meals play with four meals and and see how it goes So one more important point about protein intake Which meals should have the most protein if you're eating three or four meals per day? Let's say Ideally the answer is all meals right all meals should reach this Muscle protein synthesis threshold, but definitely make sure your first and your last meals of the day are full of protein Since there's probably going to be a 12-hour or longer period between them where you aren't getting any protein So the last meal of the day should have a lot of protein because you're going to go a long time without it The first meal should have a lot of protein because you went a long time without it, right? You're breaking your fast whether that's at breakfast or not So first and last meal of the day appear to be ideal, but you're probably better off Evenly spreading your protein throughout the day. All right now We got to talk about safety then we'll be done so our high protein diet safe, right? We have let's let's end by talking about that. There are a lot of concerns about high protein diets You hear it all the time being dangerous, right? Most of the talk is about bone health and kidney health So let's see what the science has to say really really good review here Clinical evidence and mechanisms of high protein diet induced weight loss. So I'm going to read quotes directly from here First one a meta analysis of 74 randomized controlled trials Observed that subjects in the high protein group high protein diet group Which were between 16 and 45 percent of total daily energy to intake as protein We're not significantly different from the low protein diet subjects who are consuming 5 to 23 percent of Total daily energy intake as protein with regard to bone mineral density of the lumbar spine and hips So high protein groups low protein groups. No difference when it came to bone density. No significant. It's whatsoever So bones appear to be good, which totally makes sense. I mean think about bone is just mineralized protein Second quote because the kidney discussion is the biggest concern for most people There have also been concerns that high protein diets may deteriorate renal function by increasing the glomerular filtration rate or GFR and Inducing renal hypertrophy. However, Friedman et al. found no declining renal function in terms of various indicators Such as glomerular filtration rate and albuminuria, which would be albumin or protein in your urine when studying the safety of high protein diets in 307 obese adults with normal renal function over two years So those are both those are both quotes from this review that looked at all the literature That are not that are finding no evidence of bone issues or kidney issues on high protein diets Another one though because the kidney issue comes up more often Here's a quote from the world health organizations official report on protein The most widely quoted potential problems of a high protein diet relate to renal or kidney function and damage But as discussed above in their report the evidence for such claims in otherwise healthy individuals does not Stand up to scrutiny. So high protein diets are safe for the huge majority of people So finding our fat loss sweet spot now we finished up with number number four We we learned why we need to get protein and now we know how much to get to make sure you're eating enough protein To maximize fat loss while preserving or even building lean mass But as always work with your doctor if you have any medical issue that could impact how much protein you should eat renal failure, etc So I hope I've made the case that protein intake is a major way to protect your lean mass while losing fat But if we go back in part four of this series, which is number three up here We talked about how exercise protected your muscles in the next video. So number five We're gonna look at how poor sleep and stress do the opposite, which is why I call them anti exercise So I'll explain what I mean next type. I hope this video helped like I said reach out if you need any help with the math I get it can be it can be confusing, but I do hope this video helped. You have a wonderful day. Be blessed