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From the experience of my grandmother and her relatives people were not hungry or particularly thin or deficient. Of cause this is still anecdotical, but then c
by _0w8t 4y ago
From the experience of my grandmother and her relatives people were not hungry or particularly thin or deficient. Of cause this is still anecdotical, but then consider aboriginal people from Papua New Guinea. Their primary source of calories for the whole life was varieties of sweet potatoes that had even smaller ratio of protein/calories than ordinary potatoes. By various estimates their protein intake was like 40 gram per day or even less. Yet they were muscular and healthy with no signs of deficiencies capable of doing a lot of heavy manual labor in their fields.
Then there were experiments some from over 100 years ago that showed that athletes at the top level can still improve their performance eating 60-65 gram of protein on average per day for over a year.
Then consider junk vegans who eat mostly potato chips. They do have health issues, but those can be attributed to consumptions of too much empty calories from heavily processed seed oils, not any kind of protein deficiency.
- laserlight 4y ago> Yet they were muscular We should be careful not to talk past each other. In your previous comment you talked about muscle growth and muscle building. I took it to mean strength building, the one people do in the gym. Hence my comment on untrained individuals and the amount of protein required to build muscle. Anyone who would like to improve their strength and hypertrophy should better be careful to eat enough proteins. No activity in the nature demands as much strength as the weight training activities in the gym. A small amount of protein may suffice for natives of Papua New Guinea. As a side note, muscularity might mean different things. A lean individual showing muscular definition might be considered muscular, yet it doesn't mean that they have big muscles or that they are strong. In a similar manner, someone who looks big might look big because they have favorable fat distribution in their body. They may not be strong. > athletes at the top level can still improve their performance eating 60-65 gram of protein on average per day for over a year. Yes they can. They are probably mid-distance runners, not strength lifters. Not all types of sports demand high protein intake.
- _0w8t 4y agoThere is a book from 1907 by Russell H. Chittenden that discussed protein intake and various experiments, see https://www.gutenberg.org/files/68830/68830-h/68830-h.htm#Page_187 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/68830/68830-h/68830-h.htm#Pa... I am not aware of modern studies that contradicted the conclusions there. Basically even with 60 gram of protein per day one can still maintain and improve muscular volume and strength. It just takes a lot more time compared with consuming 120-200 grams per day that are recommended by modern sport diets.
- netmonk 4y agoEvidence that protein requirements have been significantly underestimated Rajavel Elango 1, Mohammad A Humayun, Ronald O Ball, Paul B Pencharz Affiliations expand PMID: 19841581 DOI: 10.1097/MCO.0b013e328332f9b7 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19841581/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19841581/