Eating 200 grams of protein in one meal?

[fleadogs]

Hello Friends,

You don't know me (yet), but I've been lurking around a bit, avidly reading the site, and tracing every hyper text link. I have learned so much from you and the many books you have suggested. I don't want to bore you with all the details of how and why I got here (I'll bore you later :) but I've been trying to keep track of what I eat through Fitday.com I'm in the middle of reading Eades' Protein Power and they state that "7 grams equals one ounce of meat." pg 96 WHAT???? I thought there were 28 grams in an ounce! I've been weighing my food on a gram scale and two US quarters weigh approximately 10 grams. A paper clip weighs approximately one gram a piece. Is this some new kind of measurement that I am not familiar with, or am I now eating enough protein to support a small pack of wolves? Thanks!!

[doreen T]

One ounce of meat does indeed weigh 28 grams. However, that 28 grams is composed of not just protein, but also fat and water. And possibly a trace of carbohydrate .. some organ meats and shellfish have carbs. Depending on the cut of meat, there may be more or less fat, and more or less protein. 7 grams per ounce is an average rule of thumb.

A good foods counter tool will help you to see the protein content of foods. Either a book such as Corrine T. Netzer's "Complete Book of Food Counts" or our on-line carb counter tool also provides counts for protein and many other nutrients. Click on Low Carb Tools from the orange menu bar near the top of the page.

So no, you do not need to eat huge vast quantities of meat per meal. You should have worked out your protein requirement based on lean body mass, as detailed in Protein Power in chapters 4 and 5. On pp 154 - 157, you'll find simple charts which tell you how much meat - eggs - cheese etc you need to eat or combine to meet your minimum protein requirement for each meal. :)

Doreen

[fleadogs]

Thanks for your prompt reply. Of course meat has something else in it rather than just pure protein. Silly me, I just fired off that question before I really thought about it. And now a 5 gram fruit is making a lot more since :)

Thanks again, and I calculated how much protein 63g total I require. That doesn't really seem like much meat but I guess that really just shows the minimum.

[bkcooper]

Exactly, that is your MINIMUM daily protein requirement. Any less and you would be undernourished. Congratulations and welcome, BTW, by grasping the 'minimum' part of the Eades' book, you have just proven yourself smarter than 99.999% of journalists who refer to it as a "high protein" plan. The Eades' repeat over and over again "This is not 'high-protein,' this is minimum protein." (Q&A page 138)

All the best!

Kipling