← The Pediatrician Next Door - Simple Advice on Parenting and Family Health
The Pediatrician Next Door - Simple Advice on Parenting and Family Health
Protein: Are We Overdoing It? (What Kids Really Need)
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Trust us, your laundry's never smelled this good. Hey there. Let me tell you. I was standing in line at a cafe the other day, and the menu said you could add protein to your cold foam, like protein in your coffee. Then I walked to the grocery store. Protein cereal, protein waffles, protein potato chips, and, yes, protein water next to the sparkling water. What is happening? Protein went from being a normal part of food to being a marketing strategy. But I look at real laboratory values and real growth charts every day. I generally know what people are eating because I talk to them about it a lot. Are we actually low on protein? Is this something that most American families are struggling with? I'm pretty sure we're being sold a solution to a problem we don't have, because in my clinical experience, I have never seen a case of protein deficiency. What do I see? Kids who don't eat enough fiber, families who don't get enough fruits and vegetables. Diets that are low in color but very high in protein. I want to walk you through what protein does in the body, how much of it we need, where those numbers come from, and why the bigger nutrition problem in America is is not protein. I'm Dr. Wendy Hunter, and I'm the pediatrician next door. I'm that doctor friend you call for practical advice about your kid's health. I mix the science of medicine with the reality of parenting. I want to share this visual with you because I just heard this from a nutrition researcher, and it's why this has been on my mind. He said, if you want to build brain cells, do you need to eat brain? I mean, no, obviously not. Our bodies don't work that way. And the same is true for muscle eating. Muscle, like meat, doesn't directly turn into muscle. Your body breaks protein down into amino acids, then rebuilds what it needs. I'm going to come back to this idea because I know we all imagine that we need to eat meat to build muscle. So what does protein do in your body? Protein is made up of tiny building blocks called amino acids. You probably know this. Think of them like Lego pieces. Your body takes those pieces apart and then rebuilds them into whatever it needs. Protein builds muscle. Yeah, but it also repairs skin. It helps your hair and nails grow. It makes enzymes that help you digest food. It makes hormones. It helps build Antibodies, so your immune system can fight infections. Protein is awesome and it does way more than create your muscles, including your cardiac muscle. But here's what protein is not meant to be. It's not your main fuel source. Carbohydrates are your body's preferred quick energy. You probably know this because you know how people eat pasta before they go for a marathon. And fat is your long term energy storage. Protein's job is construction and repair. Here's the part that surprises people. Your body does not have a protein storage tank. You can store carbohydrate as glycogen in your liver and in your muscles. You can store fat in like everywhere. I mean like literally everywhere. Think about, you know, chubby fingers. But protein, your body uses what it needs. And if you eat more than you need, it doesn't sit there and wait to become biceps. The extra amino acids are broken down. The nitrogen part is removed and goes out of your body in your pee pee. The remaining carbon skeleton from protein is then converted so you can burn it as energy. And if you have enough energy from like bread, those carbon skeletons are then converted and stored as fat. In other words, protein follows the same metabolic rule as everything else. If you eat more calories than your body needs, whether those calories come from fat, carbohydrates or protein, the excess energy gets stored as fat. So more protein does not mean more muscle. It doesn't bypass the laws of metabolism. Protein is very important, but it is not metabolically special in the way that marketing sometimes suggests. Your muscles do need to have enough stress on them to be repaired and build up and use any extra protein. Alright, so now that we know how protein works in the body, the next question is the one that everyone how much protein do you need? If you've been anywhere at all recently, the answer is more. You need more protein. Okay, but let's look at some data. You know, I love data. The Recommended dietary allowance or RDA for protein in adults is 0.36 grams of protein per pound per day. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you'd need about 54 grams per day. And that number came from decades of nutrition research. Using something called nitrogen balance studies, researchers measured how much nitrogen people consumed in protein and how much they peed out. And the goal was to find the intake that prevents deficiency and maintains your lean body mass in pretty much all people. So those of you who know about this stuff do want to argue with me right now. I know that and you're right. This 0.36 grams per pound is a number for a whole population of people, not for an individual like a bodybuilder. Because we all do have different needs for protein. This average number was actually found to be 0.3 grams per pound. So the RDA people, they went up two standard deviations so they would have a safety margin, and that's how they came up with 0.36 milligrams per pound. That ensures that 97% of all people get enough protein. So the RDA isn't the minimum to survive. It's set to cover absolutely everyone. It's the bodybuilders and people recovering from horrible burns, things like that, that need more protein. So basically, the RDA is quite high for us regular people. What about for children? For them, the numbers are actually slightly higher per pound because they're growing. Here's what that looks like. Toddlers who are 1 to 3 years old need about 13 grams of protein per day. Kids from 4 to 8 need about 19 grams. Kids 9 to 13 need about 34 grams. Teenage girls need about 46 grams per day. And then teen boys need somewhere in that 50 to 54 grams per day, because they're basically like an adult. Now, here's the part that surprises most parents. American children are way, way exceeding these numbers without even trying. I mean, think about it. You've got a kid who's 4 years old and they need 19 grams of protein per day. Say, right? A cup of Greek yogurt has 12 to 15 grams. A peanut butter sandwich has 14. You're already there. A whole chicken breast is 20 grams. That's all the protein you actually need for a day. A glass of milk, that's 8 grams. So protein adds up very quickly in our typical American diet. So in pediatrics, I am never worried about protein deficiency in otherwise healthy kids. I'll tell you what I do worry about. I worry a lot about fiber. I mean, literally everyone can't poop. I worry about fruits and vegetables. There's some newer research that suggests that slightly higher intakes of protein may support muscle maintenance in older adults and of course, in bodybuilders. But we are talking about very small increases, not double or triple this rda. So the key point is this. The amount of protein required for health is lower than marketing would have you believe. And most families are already easily hitting that target without needing protein fortified coffee. So that brings us back to the bigger question. If protein deficiency isn't common, what are we missing? Okay, now that you have graduated from my mini nutrition lesson, let's do a little myth busting. What do you say? Okay. What do you think? Here's my first myth. Is it true or false? Most people don't get enough protein. I think you know the answer. Okay. In the United States, this is simply not true for the vast majority of healthy children and adults. Here's something that really surprises most people. Protein is not just in steak and chicken. It's in vegetables. It's even in foods that we don't mentally label as protein, like broccoli. One cooked cup of broccoli has 4 grams of protein. Yeah, it has protein in it. That's not trivial. If you eat two cups of broccoli, which is not that crazy. I know toddlers, some of them just love it. That's 8 grams. How about a cup of cooked oatmeal? That's 5 or 6 grams. Whole wheat bread, one slice is 4 grams of protein. Cooked spinach, 5 grams, just in a cup. Even a baked potato has 4 grams of protein in kind of a medium sized potato. We don't think of these as protein foods, but protein is present in almost all whole foods because protein is in all living cells, including plants. Okay, now imagine a normal day of eating. You have oatmeal in the morning, a sandwich at lunch, some vegetables at dinner, and a handful of nuts as a snack. Somewhere in there, protein adds up quickly. So before we add protein powder to our pancakes, let's pause and ask, what am I already getting without even trying? Because chances are you're getting more than you think. True protein deficiency, the kind that, like, causes problems, is really rare here. Outside of severe illness or extreme food insecurity, what is common? You heard it here first. Fiber deficiency. Americans do not meet their daily fiber recommendations. They really don't even come close. Kids are super falling short of it. So are adults. Fiber doesn't just help us poop. Like I said before, it's crucial to feed our gut bacteria. And that does way more than any of us can imagine to keep us healthy. When fiber intake is low, we tend to also be low in really important things like antioxidants and phytonutrients. So when we eat a protein bar instead of eating beans or a handful of nuts, we may be increasing our protein a little bit, but we're not getting fiber and those important plant nutrients in that process. So the answer to this myth is false. People in America get plenty of protein. What about where our protein comes from? Here's another myth I hear all the time, and actually I believed in too. The thought Is that plant proteins are incomplete. Have you heard this one? Plant proteins are somehow inferior because they don't contain all the essential amino acids. It's not true. Here's the truth. All plants contain all nine essential amino acids. What varies is the amount of each amino acid and which one is the limiting amino acid. That's where the confusion has come from. For example, grains tend to be lower in lysine. Peas and beans tend to be lower in methionine. But they still contain all of those amino acids just in smaller proportions compared to meat. So the old language of incomplete proteins came from these early research studies that looked at one single food in isolation and compared their amino acid profile to what humans require. And if one amino acid was lower than ideal, they labeled that food incomplete. And that label stuck. But it's totally misleading. We never eat single foods in isolation. So over the course of a normal day, your amino acids from different foods pool together in your body. Your liver maintains a little bit of an amino acid pool that your body draws on to build proteins. So you don't actually have to combine beans and rice and corn at the same meal. As you may have heard. You just need overall dietary variety through the day. So if you have peanut butter at lunch, oatmeal for breakfast, and beans for dinner, that's fine. Okay. Now, there are differences in digestibility and amino acid density between plant and animal proteins. Animal proteins tend to be more concentrated and are really digestible. But from a practical standpoint, a varied plant based diet provides all the amino acids you need, the essential ones, including for growing children. So yes, plants do contain all the essential amino acids. And that incomplete protein idea is outdated and does not reflect how human metabolism works. Okay, I've got two more myths for you to bust. Right after this break, your brain might be tired, so why don't you go grab a quick break protein water or some protein fortified Cheerios. I'll be right back. I have to tell you, I love when I walk into one of my exam rooms and I see a patient making something. I'm not kidding. Some parents bring craft projects or science builds to their doctor's appointment. And here's the thing. These aren't parents that have unlimited time. They're just resourceful. And I know their secret. Most of them subscribe to Kiwico. Kiwico delivers those hands on project crates and they have them for every age filled with activities that spark curiosity. I recently got one of their baby crates and it had the coolest developmental play mat. As kids get older, there are crates that are focused on science, engineering, geography, you name it. You never know what your child is going to fall in love with until they're exposed to it. And Kiwico makes it so convenient. A crate just shows up at your door every month and you can pause it or cancel anytime. Tinker Create and innovate with Kiwico. Get up to 50% off your first monthly crate at kiwico.com with code drwendy that's up to 50% off your first crate at k-I w I c o.com codE-R-W-E n d y pandacrate is an exception. See site for details. As someone who talks about health every day, I can tell you that lasting change beats extreme change every time. And when it comes to weight loss, having medical guidance matters. With weight loss. By hers you're connected to a licensed provider who learns your history and determines whether treatment is right for you. If it is, your plan can include oral medications or GLP1 injectables plus ongoing support, medication adjustments and practical tools for tracking sleep, hydration and movement. I like that hers is personalized, science backed care designed to help you make steady progress you can maintain, not something you're going to abandon in three months. If feeling stronger, healthier and more like yourself is part of your plan this year, this could be worth exploring. Feel like your best self again? Visit fourhers.com drwendy to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you. That's F-O-R-H-E-R-S.coM-R-W E N--Y for hers.com Dr. Wendy Weight loss by hers is not available everywhere. Compounded drug products are not approved or evaluated for safety, effectiveness or quality by the fda. Prescription required. See website for full details, important safety information and restrictions. Actual price depends on product and plan Purchased I just got back from a ski trip and I forgot to pack my cure hydration packs but my daughter remembered some. Irae is a real good kid there. So guess who was drinking hers? Me. Here's the thing. In cold weather and at elevation you get dehydrated faster than you realize. You're breathing harder, the air is dry and you don't always feel thirsty. That's where cure hydration packs really help. They're plant based electrolytes, no added sugar, only 25 calories and they hydrate better than water alone. I love that they actually taste good too. Refreshing flavors like berry pomegranate, never overly sweet or artificial tasting. As a physician, what matters to me is that cure is science backed. It uses the same electrolyte ratio proven to hydrate as effectively as an IV drip. And for families, Cure also makes kids mixes formulated with pediatricians with no artificial ingredients and no added sugars. Kids lose electrolytes all day long. Sports play, even skiing. And replacing them matters. Staying hydrated isn't just about water. You also need electrolytes. That's why I recommend cure. It's clean, tastes great, and my patients love it. You can grab cure on Amazon or find a store near you@curehydration.com Dr. Wendy that's D, R W E N D Y. Real ingredients, real hydration, ready for the whole family. Are you refreshed? Ready to go? Okay, here's myth number three. More protein builds more muscle. I understand why this belief sticks. Muscle is made of protein. So the logic feels simple. Eat more protein, build more muscle. So how does muscle grow? Muscle growth requires three things. You gotta have a mechanical stimulus, meaning resistance. So lifting, pushing, pulling, something that tells your muscle fibers adapt, Come on, you can do it. Adequate total calories also is important for building muscle. You can't build tissue if the body thinks it's in an energy deficit. And then last one is sufficient protein. Not excessive. I said sufficient. Which one is the most important? It's the mechanical stimulus. You need stress on your muscles. Without resistance training, extra protein does not get directed into new muscle tissue. Makes sense, right? Your body doesn't look at your protein shake and say, like, all right, let's make some biceps. Instead, protein turnover is constant. Your body is always breaking down and rebuilding proteins. When you exercise, especially strength training, you increase muscle protein synthesis. That's when protein intake supports repair and growth of your tissues. But once you hit the amount your body can use for repair, there's a ceiling. It stops. Muscle protein synthesis stops. It plateaus. Eating twice the protein is not going to double the response. And remember, if you consistently eat more calories than your body needs, even if those calories are mostly from protein, that excess energy is stored as fat. So yes, there are specific populations where timing and distribution of protein matter more. Like in serious athletes, elderly adults trying to prevent muscle loss and people recovering from illness. In these cases, spreading protein intake across meals can help optimize muscle protein synthesis. But for your average healthy child or healthy adult, the limiting factor for muscle growth is almost never protein intake. It's pretty much always movement. And I think that's important in a culture that wants to solve physical fitness with food products instead of physical activity. If we're worried about muscle strength in kids. The solution is not protein chips. It's climbing trees, it's carrying your groceries for you, playing sports, playing at the playground. Okay, I'm going to step down off my soapbox because I've got one more myth for you, and that is that high protein foods are healthier. This is where marketing gets real clever. A protein cookie is still a cookie. Do you hear me, Edwin Hunter? A protein chip is still a chip. If adding isolated protein allows a product to wear a health halo, that doesn't automatically mean it supports long term health. When I think about what protects kids health over decades, I'm thinking about fiber intake, I'm thinking about cardiovascular risk, I'm talking about insulin sensitivity, inflammation, your gut microbiome. Those outcomes are from whole foods and fiber and not from high protein. And speaking of which, let's spend a minute on plant proteins. When I hear people say plant protein, I know they often think like second best, like it's fine but not as good. But that's not at all how I see it clinically. Plant proteins. So beans, lentils, chickpeas, tofu, tempeh, edamame, nuts, seeds, whole grains, they don't just provide amino acids. They come packaged with things that most Americans really desperately need more of. Like I said, fiber, antioxidants, phytonutrients, magnesium, folate, polyphenols. When are we going to see a Twix bar fortified with polyphenols or magnesium milk? Come on food companies, you can do it. When a child eats black beans, they're getting lots of protein. And they get the added bonus that they are feeding their gut microbiome. Healthy things. Those fibers get fermented into short chain fatty acids which help regulate inflammation. They support the gut lining and they influence metabolic health. This is really powerful stuff here. Compare that to isolated protein added to a processed snack or a shake. You may get the grams, but you don't get the ecosystem. And here's another thing that doesn't get enough attention. Plant proteins tend to be lower in saturated fat and that matters a lot. Long term cardiovascular disease begins in childhood. Did you hear that we see early arterial changes decades before heart attacks happen. So the patterns that we establish early, including high saturated fat diets, they count. Now I'm not anti animal protein at all. Eggs, yogurt, poultry, fish, these absolutely fit into a healthy diet. And yes, it's fine to have steak every once in a while. Another myth that I hear a lot in my clinic is that kids can't get Enough protein on a plant forward diet. And as you know, now they can. So again, a cup of lentils has 18 grams of protein. Half a cup of tofu has 10 grams. You can get there pretty easily. It adds up very quickly across a day. The bigger issue I see in pediatrics isn't children who don't eat meat, it's children who don't eat plants. Did I say that already? When a child's plate is mostly refined carbs and animal products, I'm looking at you dino nuggets with very little fiber. That's when we see kids have constipation, poor microbiome diversity, and that causes long term metabolic risk patterns to just at the very beginning. So when we talk about protein quality, quality isn't about amino acid density, it's about what travels with your protein. And plant proteins travel with protective compounds. In the typical American diet, which is already high in protein but low in fiber, that's what we need more of. So if most families are already getting enough protein, why does it feel like we're living in a protein arms race? It's because protein is easy to measure. It's a number. It fits very neatly on the front of a package. It's very attractive. And fiber doesn't mark it as well. You don't see contains 7 grams of fermentable prebiotic substrate on the front of a cereal box. I wish we did, but it's weird. Protein feels athletic, it feels strong, it taps into our performance culture. But here's what's interesting when you zoom out and look at long term health outcomes like cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, colon cancer risk, the dietary patterns associated with lower risk for those things are not the high protein diets, they're the high fiber diets. The most plant diverse, the least ultra processed as well, of course. And yet that's not what's being advertised at the grocery store. Protein is a hero nutrient because it's easy to fortify, it's easy to add, it's easy to sell. That's the truth. So here's what you can share Protocol. Protein does matter. It is essential. We need it for growth, immune function, hormones, muscle repair, all of it. Most healthy American children and adults are not protein deficient. So here's where you need to focus. Is there color on your plate? Are there plants at every meal? Is there fiber there? If you're eating a variety of whole foods, including plant proteins. And it doesn't have to be tofu and tempeh if you don't like those things, I like them, but you don't have to find things you do, like hummus, almond butter, whatever. You are almost certainly meeting your protein needs without even trying. Go ahead, count it out for a day and see. And message me on Instagram and tell me what you find. Seriously, I do want to know. For more from the Pediatrician Next Door, find me on the web at Pediatrician Next Door podcast.com if you've got a question about the weird things kids do, send an email to helloediatriciannextdoorpodcast.com for a chance to hear your voice on the show. I'm Dr. Wendy Hunter and I'm the Pediatrician Next Door. This show is produced by Red Rock Music. Make sure to subscribe and leave a review wherever it is you're listening. I'll be back next time with more.