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tejohnsolast Wednesday at 8:55 PM4 repliesview on HN

Doesn't make sense to me that a 400lb obese person would need to consume the same amount of protein as a 400lb lean muscle bodybuilder.

All of the protein recommendations I've seen were for lean mass. You don't feed fat.


Replies

SoftTalkerlast Wednesday at 9:12 PM

Correct, and the guideline on the "realfood.gov" site doesn't say it but all the protein g/kg body weight I've seen (mostly relative to weight training or building muscle) are in terms of kg of lean body mass, not total body weight.

maerF0x0last Thursday at 4:28 PM

All these things are actually rules of thumb that aim to be easy, and less focused on accurate.

A reasonably close rule of thumb can actually be 1g of protein per cm of height.

Also not accurately represented is that your body absorbs less protein per gram consumed the older you get. (I couldnt find a source with an actual ratio, just recommendations for _more_ as you get older).

When listening to folks like Layne Norton, they have said that surprisingly many people who simply increase their protein inadvertently begin to lose weight due to greater satiety per net calorie. (remember, roughly 20% of protein calories are lost in digesting/absorbing/converting the protein)

omgJustTestlast Thursday at 12:59 AM

I am not 400lbs... I don't know if you are implying that... if so check your math:

1.2g/kg * 90kg (~200lbs-lean) = 108g of protein.

each person, on average, in the US would be eating one 16oz steak or 3-5 hamburgers every day.

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deinonychuslast Wednesday at 8:57 PM

> Doesn't make sense to me that a 400lb obese person would need to consume the same amount of protein as a 400lb lean muscle bodybuilder.

yeah both of those people are extreme cases that would break this very crude formula