Protein?

Today's big topic for me is nutrition. Specifically, I've been wondering whether I'm getting enough stuff like protein. Yeah, I eat my share of meat, beans, dairy and all ... but am I getting enough protein? Or too much?

One website said that for my height and weight, I should be consuming 83 grams of protein a day, minimum. Another tells me to double my weight to find how much protein in grams ... but gosh, that seems awful high. (I can't see how 300+ grams of protein a day can be good for you.) Still another tells me to multiply my weight by .4 to reach the magic amount. And isn't the USRDA something like 65g? Or 50? Too much, and too little, can each be harmful.

I had a problem many years ago when I was vegan: I didn't know much about proper nutrition and I wasn't getting enough protein, and (among other things) my metabolism crashed and burned. So I'm a bit nervous about protein.

In the face of so much conflicting information, the one thing I can do is determine how much protein I'm getting right now. So I've decided to keep a food diary for the next week, and jot down what I'm eating and how much. Since I rarely prepare meals for which I don't have nutritional information (ie., I normally follow recipes that a serving size and its nutrients), I'm hoping this won't be dull or burdensome. In the meantime, I'll keep researching.

EDIT, 4/11/08: I've managed to take in a good 30-50g of protein a day, which really just isn't enough for someone my size. A friend called a little while ago to inform me that according to her Weight Watchers leader and to a book called The Fertility Diet, the way to calculate one's protein intake is to multiply your body weight by .7. Under that formula, I need to double my protein! Which I can believe, since lately the more I eat, the more weight that comes off. (She adds that the Fertility Diet promotes a greater amount of vegetable protein than animal protein. I'm not that familiar with the diet myself, but I'll check it out when I get a chance.)

Local food for seniors

A cold and rainy Saturday couldn't stop me from spending some time down at the Regional Market in Syracuse. What a delight to see the incredible produce! And at such fabulous prices. A bundle of scallions - crisp, dark green tapers at least a foot long - cost a mere $1. A dozen ears of fresh-picked butter and sugar corn for $2. Red bell peppers, each the size of my doubled fists, for 50 cents each.

My favorite yogurt producer, Wake Robin Farm, was there! I discovered they sell milk, too. I saw Sundance Farm, too, from Marcellus, which was nice - I like to see stuff from my roots. Their heirloom tomatoes were irresistable!

But the best thing I found at the market wasn't food. It was opportunity.

Inside one of the sheds was a little table at which sat three women with a boatload of pamphlets from the New York State Senior Farmers Market Program. What's this, I asked? Turns out it's a program for people age 60 and over whose income is a certain level (it may also be open to families in the WIC program). What happens is once a person is accepted into the program, they are given a certain number of checks in the amount of $2 each that can be used at certain farmers' stands at local regional markets up to Nov. 15. The checks can only be used to buy locally grown foods (not honey, flowers, ornamental pumpkins or gourds, etc.).

I was delighted to learn of this program because so often, older people just don't have the money to buy good, wholesome food. And even though the program's been around for some 10 years or so, not everyone knows about this program - I was pretty sure my mom didn't. So I grabbed a pamphlet for her and brought it home to share with her later.