Are you getting enough of this in your diet?

When I am giving nutritional coaching advice some of my clients ask me for concrete numbers of exactly how much protein, carbohydrates and fats should they be shooting for on a daily basis. Although each person differs with their exact number the percentages still hold true for each population. If I had to put the above three in order of importance; it would go protein, fat then carbohydrates. We will focus on protein today. Let’s take a look at some different populations and see what is needed in protein consumption based on age and activity level. There are plenty of other factors but these are the 2 biggest.

Children from birth through elementary school:

These kids, even babies are in such a developmental stage and high activity level that they need close to 100% of their body weight in grams of protein a day. Infants have that easily taken care of through the purest source of protein on the planet; mother’s breast milk. Toddlers and school age kids need to get that from foods. Since they are eating similar foods as their parents they should be getting close to that percentage purely based on the fact they weight less. For example, if your child has a piece of chicken breast, which is about 20g of protein, and they weight 4 0-50lbs it is easy to make up the 100%. This age is very active which means they need it for development and recovery.

Middle school through high school:

This becomes a wide range because it is completely dependant on activity level. There are some kids that play a sport all year round and are constantly doing activities. Then, there are kids that don’t do much but play video games. In this field it ranges from 50-100%. Those that are inactive need at least 50 and those very active still need the 100%. I was talking with some parents the other day about protein supplements for their kids that are in high school and was it safe and necessary. My response was that it was safe and should be taken after a practice or game. It will give the kids immediate replenishment of vital nutrients that will help in their recovery and rebuilding. 

After high school:

Again, depending on your activity level if you are playing sports throughout college or beyond or if you are not will depend on your intake. The same percentages hold true as above for all adults. There are some exceptions but for the most part it is a general guideline.

So take a look at your daily nutrition and see how close you come to your right percentage.