Man Tip: 100 grams of protein per day, minimum
Despite what you may have heard to the contrary, many boys and men are growing up these days in a protein starved state. This is because our staple crops, corn and wheat have very little if any protein. That cereal and fruit you eat in the morning has very little protein. The linguine pasta you eat for lunch has very little protein. And the pizza you have for dinner has very little protein (even with a few meat toppings).
I believe that part of being a thriving man is physical strength. And to have physical strength, you need muscle. And muscle requires protein.
Many of us grow up allowing our bodies to deplete our own muscle stores because we are protein starved. As a general rule, I recommend the following:
1) Men should eat a minimum of 100 grams of protein per day, with the more physically active aiming for 150g
2) Boys, who are growing, should eat at minimum the equivalent in protein to 3/4 of their own body weight (a physically active 80lb boy should eat a minimum of 60 grams of protein)
Here are foods that are protein rich so that you can start aiming to exceed your daily amounts:
3 Local Eggs – 21 grams of protein
Grass fed beef – 54 grams of protein per 6oz serving
Turkey breast – 52 grams of protein per 6oz serving
Hamburger meat – 48 grams of protein per 6oz serving
Duck – 52 grams of protein per 6oz serving
Chicken, dark meat* – 47 grams of protein per 6oz serving
Chicken, white meat* – 38 grams of protein per 6oz serving
Fish – 40 grams of protein per 6oz serving (tuna, salmon and halibut)
Cottage Cheese – 28 grams of protein per cup
Greek Yogurt – 11 grams of protein per cup
*The thing with chicken is that many of the large scale chicken farms inflate the weight of your chicken with water. If you can buy a local, naturally raised chicken, the nutritional quality is much more straightforward
