Hey Heart & Soil Tribe,
Quick riddle to kick off your Sunday:
Black as night and night it isn’t,
Sweet as honey and honey it isn’t.
(Answer at the bottom 👇)
Now let’s talk protein.
Everyone from Dan in accounting to your great aunt Lucy is finally realizing just how important this macronutrient is.
But unfortunately there is also a ton of protein misinformation out there.
You will come across information telling you that there is protein in broccoli, pasta and potatoes. And yes, these foods do contain protein.
But to get 30 grams of protein from potatoes, you would need to eat 10 potatoes totalling 1300 calories!
Or to get 30 grams of protein from peanut butter or kidney beans, you would need to eat about 8 tablespoons of peanut butter or 4 cups of kidney beans.
Good luck with that! Just thinking about it makes our guts uncomfortable.
And this protein won’t contain all 9 essential amino acids, and will not be very bioavailable or digestible. It will also come with antinutrients like lectins which will further impair the absorption of nutrients.
It’s much easier and nutritionally efficient to get this same amount of protein from a small steak!
And not only will this protein be more complete, bioavailable and digestible, but it will also come with creatine, minerals, and vitamins.
Do not rely on plants or ultra-processed foods for your protein.
Just say no
So how much protein should you actually eat?
We suggest 0.8 – 1.0 g per lb of ideal body weight per day.
So a 200 lb man should aim for 160 g – 200 g per day…
And a 150 lb woman with 10 lbs of fat to lose should aim for between 112 g – 140 g per day.
3 reasons to prioritize (animal) protein
#1 To support exercise and muscle growth
If you are exercising regularly, or interested in building or maintaining lean muscle mass, then getting anywhere from 0.8 g – 1 g protein/lb/day is what you’ll want (ref, ref, ref).
#2 To support fat loss
If you are looking to lose weight, this is the amount you will want to also shoot for 0.8 g – 1 g protein/lb/day. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing precious lean muscle mass alongside any fat loss. Many studies show that this amount of protein is a sweet spot, supporting fat loss and satiety while preserving muscle (ref, ref, ref, ref)
#3 You are 50+
What if you are an older adult (50+) looking to maintain your muscles as you age?
The RDA for protein is simply not enough to avoid sarcopenia, and yet again we have multiple studies indicating that more protein is associated with improved muscle strength and physical performance in older adults (especially when combined with regular resistance training).
Our favorite protein foods:
#1 Ground Beef (preferably grass-fed & finished)
In our opinion, ground beef is one of the best foods to center your diet around. Not only is it affordable, but it’s versatile, quick to cook, and delicious!
#2 Eggs (preferably corn/soy free):
Eggs are also cheap, easy to prepare, and taste great.
Not only are they packed with protein (4-7 grams per egg), but they are packed with critical micronutrients like Choline and Vitamin A too.
#3 Raw milk:
We love raw milk here at Heart & Soil. Between the team, we probably get through 20 gallons per week (!), and love mixing it with honey or maple syrup. 1 cup of raw milk packs about 8 grams of protein (plus a ton of other nutrients!)
Pick up some from your local farmer’s market, or check out realmilk.com for a source near you.
What about protein powder?
Protein powders can be really helpful when you’re stuck for time, or struggling to eat your protein targets in steak, eggs and other animal foods.
But the problem is, most options on the market contain artificial sweeteners, GMOs, and other questionable ingredients that go against everything we stand for in the pursuit of radical health.
And most companies take shortcuts that destroy the very compounds that make protein actually work.
Beef Protein Isolate? It’s basically processed leather. High protein numbers on paper, but missing the leucine your muscles actually need.
Whey Protein Isolate? Ultra-filtered to remove everything except protein. Sounds good until you realize they stripped away all the immune compounds that help with recovery.
Most Whey Concentrates? Still garbage because they start with cheese factory waste that’s been heated twice.
After watching people struggle with bloating, gut issues, and zero results from their “premium” powders…
We went rogue and built our own.
Our newly-launched Grass-Fed Whey goes straight from grass-fed milk to powder. No cheese factory middleman.
Our low-temp process keeps all the good stuff intact.
We even put it to the test
When we tested it against the leading brand, we had up to 40X more bioactive nutrients.
The compounds that actually support recovery, immunity, and muscle growth.
There’s also another big reason our new Grass-Fed Whey is unlike any other protein powder on the market…
Research shows you need about 2.5 grams of leucine in one serving to fully activate muscle protein synthesis — basically your body’s “build muscle” switch.
Most whey powders don’t hit that mark.
Ours does. Every single serving.
We also realize that people demand flavor – but look at any chocolate protein and you’ll find artificial sweeteners, gums, fillers…the list goes on.
We refused to compromise.
For the Chocolate Sea Salt version we spent MONTHS sourcing each ingredient individually:
– Raw, fermented, sun-dried cacao
– Organic maple sugar
– Microplastic-free sea salt
Four whole-food ingredients. That’s it.
Check out Grass-Fed Whey here =>>
And keep stacking real food (steak or scoop).
To radical health,
The Heart & Soil Team
Riddle answer: Blackberries
(Now’s the time to get outside and pick some!)
This week on Instagram:
This week on Radical Health Radio:
How Men Can Reclaim Their Vitality ft. Case Bradford | Ep. 130
This week on the Blog:
The Meat and Fruit Diet: Is It Healthy?
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