A nutritionist sorts the hype from what actually matters. Over the past year or so I’ve thought more about protein than in my previous 43 combined. Where women used to count calories, we’re now tracking macros.We’re stirring protein powder into our coffee, blending it into smoothies and slipping cottage cheese into as many meals as possible. (At this point it’s fair to wonder whether Big Cottage Cheese is behind the whole protein craze, because seriously, this is ridiculous).
Even Starbucks now sells protein lattes and protein cold foam with protein-boosted milk you can add to nearly any drink on the menu. Somehow I still have more questions than answers. How much do you really need, where should it come from and does any of this apply to women if we’re not trying to bulk up?
The information we get is confusing, contradictory and usually attached to something for sale. Cassy Joy Garcia has spent years cutting through all of the noise. The holistic nutritionist and New York Times bestselling author behind Fed + Fit built her latest book, _The Protein Meal Prep Plan_, around the unglamorous mechanics of getting enough, with recipes designed to actually get eaten on a busy weeknight.
Here are the myths she runs into most, and what she tells women to do instead. Women typically need protein the most at the moments we arefeeding oursevles last. There’s a physiological shift that occurs between the ages of 35 and 50, too, when muscle gets harder to build and hold, a process called anabolic resistance.
During this time, women need more protein per meal to do what a smaller amount used to do in their 20s. Most women are still eating the way they did a decade earlier, Garcia notes, so “eating fine” by an old standard may no longer cut it. The official recommended dietary allowance (RDA), 0.8 grams per kilogram of bodyweight, is a floor, not a goal. (For reference, an egg has about 6 grams of protein, a serving of chicken breast has 38 grams.) Garcia calls the recommendation, based on nitrogen-balance studies, “a helpful minimum to help a person avoid deficiency, not to be confused with a target intake that will help a person optimize their health.” The federal guidance has since moved in her direction.
The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030, recommend modestly raising protein intake to 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram a day, which sits right inside the 1.2 to 2 grams per kilogram range Garcia points women toward. Roughly half of Americans already hit that range, and the half that falls short skews female. Treat the RDA as the line you don’t want to fall below, Garcia says, not the number you’re aiming for. **Protein Myth 3: “I need an app and a powder to do this right”** “You don’t need an app or a powder to start,” Garcia says.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
