Protien

Question
My mother is 75, has had heart bypass and is now being treated for venous stasis...Doc wants her on a protien drink atleast 3x's daily.  I have checked atleast 7 differant products they all have differant grams of protien per serving. What is a low and high number for the amount of protien a person needs daily?  Must be supplements as she cant chew meat, nuts, beans are high in starch so I worry about her sugar though she is not diabetic...fasting blood sugar stays 95 - 110.  Any suggestions, thank you for your time,Mary

Answer
Mary.

I would get a simple whey supplement most are around 20 grams a serving, Optimum Nutrition and American Whey are both good brands and are very tasty, have low carb content. As far as the low #? the average person needs 5granms of protein to sustain daily life function if they dont get that the body starts catabolizing its own muscle tissue to get what it needs. There is no set high as of yet. The only studies showing protein being a detriment we done on already sick humans and there is no evidence that anyone with regular kidney function cant have as much protein as they can stuff in there mount. Though you do need fat intake to go with it. i would assure that your mother is getting plenty of good fats, both Unsaturated and saturated, and assuring she gets her omega 3's

That said, on the protein there seems to be NO need to go over 1 gram of protein per lb of body weight. Even a hard training person that will get them the protein they need and a little excess. a bit excess is ok the body has the ability to turn amino acids into glycogen as needed or simply pass it in excrement.

I hope that

Phil
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