Help me out with this Protein Supplements vs No Protein Supplements

Hi I hope you can help me out with this I have a question on protein. Some docs reccommend supplementing your protein with shakes,bats and such. Others want you to get it totally from the foods you eat. I have read on different boards that we should be getting somewhere in the range of 60-80 gr of protein a day. How can you get that from the foods you eat? If I am only eating 1/2 oz of protein (lean meats chicken fish ect.) 3 times a day how much protein am I getting? Not much maybe 20 grams. Here are my questions 1-Does taking the supplements make you loose faster? 2-I have heard if you don't eat enough protein you start to burn muscle instead of fat. Is this true? 3- How much protein should you be getting in? 4- What are the benefits or disadvantages of protein supplements vs. getting them from the foods we eat? 5- Protein supplements have carbs and some have fat in them. How many carbs a day is reccommended? How much fat? I appreciate any suggestions and opinions for all of you out there that can help clarify some of my puzzling questions on protein. Thanks Hugs

How can you get that from the foods you eat? YOU CAN'T!!! no matter what any Dr says..you just can't and you hit it on the nose.. Even if you eat only protein all day long with our amount restrictions you can't get the recommended amount of protein without supplements. 1-Does taking the supplements makes you loose faster? Yep..that's what I learned from many long-term patients...getting enough protein helps you avoid plateaus too. Also helps you avoid that "grey ghost" look many WLS patients get. 2-I have heard if you don't eat enough protein you start to burn muscle instead of fat. Is this true? An absolute FACT! 3- How much protein should you be getting in? I have heard many different numbers lowest being 60 grams to 120 grams. Right now I am getting 90g day by protein supplements but am planning on adding one more shake (for total of 4 30g each) to get 120 g day. 4- What are the benefits or disadvantages of protein supplements vs. getting them from the foods we eat? You can't get enough from the foods you eat! The only way to get even the minimum amount of 60 g (not enough in my opinion) is to supplement with protein shakes. 5- Protein supplements have carbs and some have fat in them. How many carbs a day is recommended? How much fat? ok too much info to type I am going to add some links for you instead.. http://www.vitalady.com/faqs.htm Great yahoo group..many long-term post ops to answer newbies questions..warning these ladies tell it like they see it...and are very PRO protein supplement. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/OSSG-Protein/ Susan Marian rant again...she can say it so much better than me. http://store.bariatriceating.com/february2005.html hth...Amy

Thanks Amy Good resources, have been to bariatric eating.com great site even bought some stuff. My surgeon has me on a very restricted diet. Lean meat and green leafy veges, 2 liters of water and vitamins. Servings of 1/2oz protein per meal (lean meats) Its not that I do not think he is great but he is not a nutritionist. Besides so much controversy out there amongs surgeons I wonder why they are all different. I think more suggest the protein than not. I started excercising and I do not want to burn muscle I want to burn fat so this why another reason for putting that questoin out there. I have tried some supplements but it has not speeded up my weight loss the funny thing it has slowed it down. Perhaps just another change my body is experiencing I really do not know but I stopped questioning why body decides to hold on to weight or retain weight or let it go. I follow the program do the best I can and in the end I know I will lose the weight at the rate my body wants. Take Care and you are doing a great job. Keep up to good work Thanks Pam

I agree with AMY you need the additional protein from shakes or bars as your snacks. YOU need the muscle to burn the fat. THE muscle being burned from lack of protein can cause troubles. Plus muscle is hard and fat is soft.. I rather be hard than flabby...Of course that is just my oppinion. I lost a lot in the first two weeks- had more protein shakes then and added protien to everything. Now on reg foods the loss appears slower.. I am going to up the shakes and bars and continue with the food three times a day. SUCH A challenge for one who was never full before WLS to have to force the drinks in... GOOD LUCK....and do not forget to suppliment your fluids 2 birds with one stone..

Hi Pam, I totally agree with Pam. One thing that wasn't answered clearly though on question 4, regarding supplements vs getting them from the foods we eat. I was told that if you can get as much as you can from the foods, they will satisfy you longer than the liquid supplements will, because you will feel full longer. However, you just can't eat enough protein to get enough in with out the supplements. My dr. recommends 50g protein a day for women & 60g for men but, like you, I have read we should be getting more. I try to go with the supplements that have the least carbs but taste good enough that I will drink them. Good luck to you! Diana C.

Hi, I am also struggling with the whole protein issue. I just met with my nutritionist today and she addressed most of the questions above. 1-Does taking the supplements make you loose faster? Definately! I hit a plateau at 2 weeks and then started drinking Isopure with 40 grams and suddenly lost 5 pounds! 2-I have heard if you don't eat enough protein you start to burn muscle instead of fat. Is this true? Yes. The function of protein is to help generate cells in the body. If you don't have enough protein you can't maintian your muscle cells. 3- How much protein should you be getting in? My nutritionist has some formula she uses that takes your current weight and height into account. I am 5'5'" and 229 and she says for that size I need 55-70 per day. She also says as a general rule that anything below 50 is in the danger zone. 4- What are the benefits or disadvantages of protein supplements vs. getting them from the foods we eat? The both work on your body about the same way. My nutritionist likes for me to try to get a decent amount from foods so that I will have built good eating habits for later. 5- Protein supplements have carbs and some have fat in them. How many carbs a day is reccommended? How much fat? I am not allowed to have more than 10 grams of sugar at a time (she says not to worry about the broader category of carbs right now) and she says that for the time being I should not worry too much about fat. The shakes are about the only thing I get these days that has fat and your body does need some. If you want to try something low in fat and carbs try Isopure. It is a kool-aid flavored protein drink. It is expensive but really worth it!!! It counts towards your water/fluids for the day and has 40 grams of protein in 20 oz. It has NO SUGAR/CARBS and NO FAT and only 160 calories. I LOVE IT!!! Good luck! Shellie

7-20-05 surgery. by pass im not a pro but i can give u some info as well. im in a study for the u of texas so i get alot of nutritional info(sp). i just went to the study group and dr yesterday. imlow on protein. so yes if u dont have enough protein u can lose muscle. i lost 9 lbs of muscle out of the 32 i have lost.. she said that a bad thing. i was only doing maybe 30 gr pro. we al know thats bad. she said at least 60-90... i asked about the fat and other things. she said no matter what stay close to 90 gr pro. fat apx no more than 25gr.... ill post more info under a dif topic.. but hey tothe one who said green leafy veg. my specialist said realy u should stay away from leafy.. cause u cant really mulch that lol ok hope i didint con fuse. take care sue

I agree with everybody else you can not get your protein from food alone. You have to drink your supplements. My weight loss stalled for 3 weeks because I wasn't getting enough protein. The nutritionist said that without adequate protein your body starts to burn muscle instead of fat. The less muscle you have the less fat you burn. So its kind of a vicious cycle. As far as the amount of protein that varies among nutritionists. I know at this point they are wanting me to get in 79 grams a day. So definitely drink your protein.