Are we eating too little of proteins?

“An average healthy adult need about 0.8g – 1g of protein per kg of body weight,” informed Dr Subash Mendis, Medical Officer of Nutrition at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka. He explained that the protein requirements varied according to the physiological state of the body and the physical activity of the person. If a person was diagnosed with chronic renal failure, that person would need 0.6g of protein per kg of body weight while a person suffering from acute illness, is bedridden for several days or in the ICU, would require more than 1g of protein per kg of body weight. Athletes would require around 1.5g of protein per kg of body weight. 

He noted that there was a lack of adequate protein in the Sri Lankan diet. “For a majority of Sri Lankans, the main protein source is rice which contains very little protein. Protein should be taken into the diet through high protein sources such as eggs, meat, fish and dairy products. For vegetarians/ vegans, the only source of high protein would be soya meat as 100g of dry soya meat contains around 50g of protein.” said Dr. Mendis. He shared that the best source of protein for non-vegetarians was egg followed by chicken, fish, meat, red meat as a higher percentage of proteins from these sources are easily absorbed into the body compared to other sources.

Effects of not having enough protein 
Dr Mendis noted that the lack of adequate protein in the diet resulted in rapid muscle wastage in the elderly population and caused them to be weaker. “The weakness and muscle wastage are not consistent with their age. The reason for this is the elderly population reduce consumption of animal products as they become older,” he shared.  He also added that this also affected Sri Lankan athletes greatly as their bodies do not develop compared to international players at their level. “From my experience working with two national sports teams, I have noticed that the athletes and coaches do not have a proper knowledge of the amount of dietary protein intake needed. Due to the lack of proteins in the diet, these athletes have not eaten enough proteins since childhood which also affects their performance as their body is not as developed as international athletes of their level. The lack of body development is not due to genetics, it is due to the lack of proteins in the diet,” he revealed noting that an average Sri Lankan consumes around 44g of protein per day, which was not adequate.
Other effects he pointed out were:

• Less muscle mass, mainly fat is in the body
• High tendency of individuals to be obese (central obesity- thin limbs and excessive abdominal fat)
• Individuals do not optimally grow according to body weight and age
• Delayed recovery from diseases, might not recover fully in certain instances
• Immunity is affected as proteins make up immune cells. Immunity lowers in instances of low protein intake
• If an athlete, the athlete is prone to more sports injuries
• Excess protein intake 

“It is important to not take excess proteins than necessary according to the body weight or physical activity or physiological state,” Dr Mendis cautioned. He shared that this could occur when people do not properly follow diets such as paleo diet and keto diet. “People tend to eat more proteins because they think consuming more proteins will help them lose weight but that’s a misguided belief. Excess proteins would get deposited as fat, thereby increasing body fat,” he explained. 

The symptoms of excessive protein intake were:

• Bad breath
• Constipation due to less fibre intake
• Diarrhoea 
• Dehydration 

He noted that it was important that people started incorporating more protein into the diet through high quality protein sources.