Protein – Are you getting enough?

I regularly get asked the question, “how much protein should I be getting each day?”  Depending on your fitness goals the answer varies.  An inactive adult (not any of us) should be consuming  .36 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day in order to get the RDA (recommended daily allowances) set by the Food and Nutrition board.  That means, for example, that if you weigh one hundred and fifty pounds, then you need to consume about fifty-four grams of protein daily.  On the other hand, athletes and active adults need strong, healthy muscles so an increase in protein consumption is necessary.  Scientific data suggests consuming 0.55 to 0.73 grams of protein per pound of their body weight, however I personally go by the theory of consuming 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.  Just remember…consuming an extremely high amount of protein will not make your muscles grow stronger and healthier.  Remember there is a point of diminishing returns.  Your body can only process so much protein and anything left over becomes waste.