Hi everybody Monica Reinagel here with the nutrition divas quick and dirty tips

for eating well and feeling fabulous. If you've been a nutrition diva

listener for a while you've probably heard me talk about the benefits of eating more protein.

Eating more protein and fewer carbohydrates can help you manage your appetite and aid with weight loss.

Higher protein meals and snacks also help keep your blood sugar steady and can give your metabolism a modest boost.

And protein also helps build and maintain muscle tissue and

supports healthy aging. Now despite all of this, you may have heard other

experts say that Americans are eating far too much protein. I know I have.

So today let's take a closer look at this seemingly contradictory advice.

And now on to today's show.

First, let's just quickly review what the Institute of Medicine recommends in terms of protein intake.

Under normal circumstances circumstances you require about 0.8 grams of

protein per kilogram of healthy body weight to maintain basic bodily functions and that

translates into a daily recommended intake or

DRI of 56 grams of protein for men and 46 grams for women.

Now just for reference a three ounce portion of chicken breast for Two eggs provide around 12 grams of protein. That's about a quarter of the recommended intake.

So how much protein do we eat?

Recent surveys have found that American men eat an average of 100 grams of protein

a day, which is almost twice the recommended daily intake for males.

Women tend to eat a bit less, about 70 grams of protein on average, or 1.5 times the recommended intake for females.

This seems to be the basis for claims that we are eating twice as much protein as we

quote unquote should. But that isn't quite true. In addition to the DRI for

...