How Much Protein Does An Athlete Need To Consume In Their Diet? Dr. Joel Furhman Explains What He Tells NBA Players and Olympic Skiers

Something we hear a lot is that when people start exercising more is "I have to now eat a lot more protein." Habib went through this himself in the last year, running 25-40 miles per week. The other runners and runners on PEERtrainer advised him to eat a lot of protein after a run. 

As a result the meat in his diet began to spike well above the recommended 10% level. He ended up emailing Dr. Fuhrman and asking if athletes were an exception to this 10% level. His response was that when you exercise more you need more calories. And if you are eating a nutrient dense diet with plenty of greens you are getting plenty of protein.

What interesting is that Dr. Fuhrman is an Olympic Medalist in figure skating. He also counsels the US Olympic team, world class skiers and NBA basketball players. In this video, he explains in detail what advice he gives professional athletes in terms of their protein intake:

Here is a bullet point summary of his main points:

• When you exercise and train hard you stress your immune system. If a world cup skier gets sick it might mess up their entire year. So they are financially incentivized to eat the best diet possible
• The more you exercise, the more calories you need. And you need more protein. The key is consuming high nutrient foods that are rich in protein. 
• For his athletes, he advises a green drink blended with 5 ounces of nuts and seeds. This would give them 1000 calories and 20 grams of protein for example
• It is not hard to get enough protein, and too much protein can be dangerous. Bodybuilders and football players who consume large amounts of whey and soy protein are putting themselves at risk for cancer. 
• From his perspective athletes need 1.2 grams of protein for every kilogram of bodyweight.

Comments

[Mike Busse]

In the green drink, I think you would be getting the extra calories from the 5oz. of nuts and seeds. They are very high in protein but also in calories. If you are not a conditioned athlete that burns thru the calories with exercise but rather you are a part time couch potato, then maybe cut the 5 oz. to only 2 oz. per drink. The drink itself without any nuts or seeds would be less then 200 calories I would guess.

[George]

I've been on a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet for a long time. It does reduce appetite, and it does stimulate ketosis, and both of these facts are the reasons why it helps reduce body fat. Dr. Batterham is wrong on some points, however. Ketosis doesn't make everyone "feel terrible"; some people, including myself, feel fine in ketosis, and feel much better when our intake of simple carbohydrates is low. She is also perpetuating a complete lie: the Atkins diet does not "ditch carbohydrates" completely; the diet encourages consumption of vegetables and low GI fruit. There has been research done before on high-protein low-carb diets, and there is no evidence to back the scare-mongering that they cause damage to organs. My organs are fine; I have a complete physical every year to make sure. In fact, with my restriction on grain-based food and my high consumption of all that scary saturated fat, my cholesterol has gone down 30 points. (HDL up, LDL and triglycerides down, in spite of the "proven fact" that saturated fat will increase cholesterol). Dr. Batterham's conclusions don't surprise me; they reinforce what I already have proven to myself. She could check into some of the research on high-protein diets that has already been done.

[Air Jordan Shoes]

*People are always telling you what to do, but what's right for them may not be right for you.

[M. Shaalan]

I used to practice bodybuilding and was using about 3g proteins for each KG....lot of proteins = heavy & intense workouts

[Protein Shake]

I am a natural competitive bodybuilder and i use the ratio of 1.5g protein for evry pound of bodyweight per day.

[Denise Bailey]

Did I read that right? 1000 calorie green drink? I am trying to eat 1600 calories a day lol. I would like to know his actual recipe. It would be more helpful to have specifics instead of "a green drink with nuts and seeds" equaling 1k calories.

[Acai Max Cleanse]

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[sherley]

fish is one of the high protein food

[Lose Belly Fat]

Great Piece!

Thanks for sharing the information!

If I to ask, I would say as long as your comfortable with your condition no matter how hard you do your exercise, it's good. But of course, it is always best if you watch and make a balancing out of it!

Be Careful!

[Weight Loss Diet]

Yes, I agree with Rene that this is great info. I love NBA and if this is what NBA players do, I want to do the same.

[Rene Padilla]

Wow! Great info. Well, I am on a diet now and I would like to follow those main point s cause I want to burn as much calories.

[John Burn Fat]

Personally when I eat, my plate is 30-40 % protein. I like his idea of green drink blended with nuts and seeds... but I would like to have more info on how to prepare that drink.