Recent developments in understanding protein needs - How much and what kind should we eat?

Abstract

A novel method has been developed to determine protein requirements, which is called indicator amino acid oxidation (IAAO). This technique has been validated by comparison with the "gold standard" nitrogen balance. Using IAAO we have shown that minimum protein requirements have been underestimated by 30%-50%. The National Academy of Sciences has for macro-nutrients proposed "Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges", which for protein is 10% to 35% of total energy. In practice, we suggest 1.5-2.2 g/(kg·day) of a variety of high-quality proteins.