Q&A: How much protein do I really need—and when should I eat it?

Diabetes Digital Podcast by Food Heaven

Wendy Lopez, Jessica Jones

Nutrition, Health & Fitness

4.9 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 8 October 2025

⏱️ 6 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How much protein is actually enough, and does it matter when you eat it? Wendy breaks it all down in this episode, with practical goals for protein intake, why distribution matters, and ways to sneak it in without overthinking. Whether you’re vegetarian, perimenopausal, or just trying to stay full, this one’s got you.

If you're living with diabetes or prediabetes and want personalized support from a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist covered by insurance, visit diabetesdigital.co to connect with our culturally aware and weight-inclusive team. And if you love the show, don't forget to rate and review us on iTunes or Spotify—it makes a huge difference! For additional resources and show notes, head to diabetesdigital.co/podcast.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to another episode of the Diabetes Digital Podcast. And today we're going to be talking about protein. I feel like protein is one of the most overrated macronutrient. It definitely gets a lot more love than, let's say, carbohydrate or fiber. But it is important. And so today I want to talk about how much protein you really
0:24.1	need and when you should eat it. Welcome to the Diabetes Digital podcast. I'm Wendy and I'm
0:30.4	Jess and we're best friends, registered dieticians and diabetes educators. Through our telehealth platform,
0:36.4	diabetes digital.co, we offer accessible and
0:39.4	personalized virtual nutrition counseling for people with diabetes and prediabetes.
0:43.8	Visit DiabetesDigital.co, that's CO, to book your first appointment. We accept insurance
0:49.4	and offer affordable self-pay options. Now, let's get into today's episode.
0:57.0	And so hopping right in,
1:02.0	the general recommendations are going to be about 20 to 30 grams of protein per meal. If you are very active or you are in midlife, I would recommend going for 100 grams a day. Most of the
1:08.3	women that we work with, a diabetes digital, I will say that they feel better aiming for around 100 grams a day. Most of the women that we work with, a diabetes digital, I will say that they feel better
1:12.2	aiming for around 100 grams a day. It might sound like a lot, but when you divide it up between
1:18.1	meals and snacks, it's very, very doable. It's important to spread it out. A lot of people end up
1:24.2	stacking it mostly at dinner time, and your body can only use so much at
1:29.2	once. So you really want to aim to include protein at each meal, your breakfast, your lunch,
1:34.6	your dinner, any snacks that you're having in between. And this is going to help with blood sugar
1:40.4	regulation. It's going to help with satiety because protein is going to keep you
1:44.6	full for a lot longer. And especially as we are getting older, it also helps with preserving
1:50.6	muscle mass, which is particularly important in perimenopause and beyond. Now I want to talk about
1:57.5	some ideas for you to incorporate more protein into each of your meal. So let's start with breakfast. One thing that I love to talk about some ideas for you to incorporate more protein into each of your meal.
2:02.0	So let's start with breakfast.
2:03.5	One thing that I love doing is pancakes during the weekend because I don't have time to do pancakes during the week.
2:11.3	And I add ricotta.
	...

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