Protein Myths - 3 Myths You Need To Know When Planning Your Protein Intake

Protein myths are found all over the Internet and in health books. I was flipping through Arnold Schwarzenegger's huge bodybuilding book the other day and it is full of inaccurate information. Some of these myths have some partial scientific evidence behind them. Some don't.

Let's take a look at the top 3 protein myths:

Myth #1: "You must eat all 8 essential amino acids in every meal."

The proteins in our food and in our bodies are made up of amino acids. One of the most common protein myths is that you must eat all 8 essential amino acids in every meal, and in specific ratios.

This idea is not new, and it's not true. While it is true that if you go for a long time without getting the 8 essential amino acids, you can develop a deficiency. But your cells hold them in reserve for at least a couple of days.

If you consume a variety of whole plant foods during your week, you have nothing to worry about. And then your digestive system will be really happy to digest simple meals with less foods.

Myth #2: "Protein from animals is better for you than protein from plants."

This is definitely another of the common protein myths, but the truth is plant foods give all the same essential amino acids as animal foods. Yes, even vegetables have protein.

In fact, focusing on getting enough meat instead of getting a wide variety of quality plant foods will probably leave you deficient in minerals and with an excess of fat and maybe protein. Plus, unless you buy organic meat, conventional farming practices are loading your meat with pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and so on, and who wants that?

Myth #3: "Eat a lot of protein. The more, the better."

Another of the protein myths I often hear is that we should eat as much protein as we can. If some protein is good and helps to build muscle, more is even better and will give you even bigger muscles, right?

The way to build muscle is not by eating protein, but by exercising. Even then, overall caloric intake is the limiting factor for muscle mass gains, not protein intake.

A low-meat or vegan or vegetarian diet can easily meet your protein requirements, even if you are a competitive athlete. Then you don't have to worry about the excessive saturated fat and other unhealthy aspects of meat.

Now that you know these protein myths you may want to see how a registered holistic nutritionist gets her protein, and you may want to figure out your protein requirements specifically for your body type, which you can do with this simple, free calculator: http://www.healthyveganrecipes.net/featured/protein-calculator.

Heather Nauta is a registered holistic nutritionist who teaches you how to live a healthy vegan/vegetarian lifestyle, including how to get proper nutrition, enough protein, vitamin b12 and other minerals, and how to make an amazing variety of simple, fast healthy recipes that taste incredible for you and your family.