Protein to water ratio (and other science)

[kmacattack]

I know what I'm doing right now isn't exactly Paleo, but it works for me. I usually get about 175g of protein a day and I drink at least two gallons of water. I've read on fitness sites that 1 gallon of water per 100g of protein is ideal for absorbtion, but I want to know what you all think about this.

I'm on the run right now, and I have a soft spot in my heart for RTD protein shakes. There's a lactose free one called "Oh yeah!" made by Integrated Sports Science that I'm particularly fond of. It's a 220cal 32g protein drink with 3g sugar, 350mg potasssium and 4g carbs. It's pretty much the "best" one I can find for my needs, other that the ABB PurePro 50.

The human body generally needs 4700mg potassium and 3000mg taurine daily, which I only want to point out because a lot of people do calorie defecit diets when they start out. But potassium and taurine are the two nutrients that keep your mitochondria producing energy on a cellular level, and if you aren't getting enough, then you feel sluggish. People who calorie defecit diet for too long can cause long term damage without these vitamins, especially if you're a fan of those thermogenics. Bllaaaahhhhh....

Anyway, this is about water. I personally feel that 2gal is right for me as a 158lb girl. What are your thoughts?

[joeyb]

2gal seems like a lot to me. I have a 16oz glass that I use at work and I'm excited when I drink 4 or 5 of those on top of all of the milk that I drink. I'd guess I get around 1gal of fluids on a good day. I'd have to drink 16 of those glasses in a day to hit 2gal. That just seems near impossible to me. I'm not saying that it's wrong - you've done the research and I haven't - but maybe check for alternative sources. Drinking too much water can wash away those nutrients that you mention, so you don't want to overdo it. Generally, you can tell if you're drinking the right amount of water by the color of your urine. If it's clear, then you're drinking too much and you're only flushing nutrients. If it's dark then you aren't drinking enough.

[aj_rock]

You can't flush nutrients by drinking too much water. Give your kidneys more credit than that Clear urine = you're pissing water pretty much.

Taurine = in-essential organic acid. As in, your body can make it if you don't ingest enough. Insufficient potassium, while a problem, won't make you feel sluggish or anything...

[cline]

You had me at "science...."

2 gallons seems like a lot but if I think about it, I probabaly easily take that in during a day. I drink several big coffees (I know...) and refill my water bottle at least 4 times. Plus other random drinks.

But I wouldn't spend time monitoring it or worrying about nutrients, absorption, etc. if thirsty = drink. If working out, drink. If pee is dark or darkening, drink (pee should generally be pale yellow). Otherwise, keep in mind all beverages have some degree of fluid which your body will use. A lot of what you eat also has water.

[kmacattack]

I was honestly rambling about the potassium/taurine bit. I'm a rambler.Too little potassium over an amount of time does cause hypokalemia, though, which is characterized by weakened muscles and myalgia (I love the word myalgia, it's so fancy for something that just means unexplained muscle pain..) But this can only really happen if you've starved yourself, have diabetes, or use an ECA stack. Which you shouldn't, because it's bad for you. Silly.

As for taurine, a red bull a day keeps cirrhosis away. It's a part of digesting things. And it's been used to reduce blood pressure successfully.

I guess what I'm really getting at with the water : protein is a well known issue found in the gym. Protein farts.

I drink so much water a day and it keeps that gross high protein diet side effect completely away. Personally. If you're having digestive issues and a high protein diet, consider drinking more water.

But I don't know. I haven't done/researched paleo long enough to see how much I'd get without a shake or two a day.

[morethanjustamom]

As for taurine, a red bull a day keeps cirrhosis away. It's a part of digesting things. And it's been used to reduce blood pressure successfully.

.

Have you got any studies/science to back this up? I have several friends whose doctors have implicated energy drinks such as red bull as a factor in their high bp diagnosis, not as a treatment.

[kmacattack]

http://www.japha.org/article.aspx?doi=10.1331/JAPhA.2008.07055

http://www.springerlink.com/content/m4467644l7738uw7/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4563760.stm

[msuroo]

Conclusion: The amounts of guarana, taurine, and ginseng found in popular energy drinks are far below the amounts expected to deliver either therapeutic benefits or adverse events. However, caffeine and sugar are present in amounts known to cause a variety of adverse health effects.

I didn't bother to read the second two links.

[kmacattack]

Yeah, I thought that one might be enough. "Too much" isn't bad for you. It occurs naturally in foods, but my original point was the caloric defecits some people go on. It's a necessary acid to produce bile.

I was talking about farts. Why not talk about farts?

[joeyb]

You can't flush nutrients by drinking too much water. Give your kidneys more credit than that Clear urine = you're pissing water pretty much.

Taurine = in-essential organic acid. As in, your body can make it if you don't ingest enough. Insufficient potassium, while a problem, won't make you feel sluggish or anything...

You're right. It won't flush nutrients in general, which is what I said before, but it will flush water-soluble vitamins, which would be the B vitamins and Vitamin C.

[Bumblebee4]

Yeah, I thought that one might be enough. "Too much" isn't bad for you. It occurs naturally in foods, but my original point was the caloric defecits some people go on. It's a necessary acid to produce bile.

I was talking about farts. Why not talk about farts?

Ok I'll talk about farts. Right before I turned more primal (I won't claim Paleo, I'm not strict enough) I was doing research because I was eating way healthier than I had been and had upped by protein intake considerably by eating more meat and using protein shakes. I read a lot about protein farts but I couldn't find anything conclusive about why or how it happened. Then of all things I end up on a gay male sight talking about this issue and someone explained it so well that most of those horrible smelling farts are actually from your body digesting starches and that our body makes a different (enzyme maybe, not sure what it was) that is used to digest starches and makes a sulfur by-product causing terrible gas. So maybe, just maybe, you aren't having protein farts anymore not because you are drinking such an ungodly amount of water but because you are follwing a much more Paleo style (even though as you say it isn't exactly Paleo) of eating and your starch digestion is much lower.

Just my 2 cents.

[joeyb]

Ok I'll talk about farts. Right before I turned more primal (I won't claim Paleo, I'm not strict enough) I was doing research because I was eating way healthier than I had been and had upped by protein intake considerably by eating more meat and using protein shakes. I read a lot about protein farts but I couldn't find anything conclusive about why or how it happened. Then of all things I end up on a gay male sight talking about this issue and someone explained it so well that most of those horrible smelling farts are actually from your body digesting starches and that our body makes a different (enzyme maybe, not sure what it was) that is used to digest starches and makes a sulfur by-product causing terrible gas. So maybe, just maybe, you aren't having protein farts anymore not because you are drinking such an ungodly amount of water but because you are follwing a much more Paleo style (even though as you say it isn't exactly Paleo) of eating and your starch digestion is much lower.

Just my 2 cents.

Are you sure it wasn't Fructose instead of starch? Starch is broken down by saliva, but Fructose fits that description perfectly.

[Bumblebee4]

Are you sure it wasn't Fructose instead of starch? Starch is broken down by saliva, but Fructose fits that description perfectly.

It was one of those things that the way it was explained where I read it, it made so much sense that I decided to cut grains from my diet and I saw an immediate improvement. So I couldn't swear what it said or how it said it now. I know it mentioned the digestion part in the lower intestines and the by product of the enzymes used for digestion of different things. But I might have to try finding it again now for curiousity.

And even if startches start to be broken down by saliva they still have to be digested through the rest of the digestive system.

[joeyb]

It was one of those things that the way it was explained where I read it, it made so much sense that I decided to cut grains from my diet and I saw an immediate improvement. So I couldn't swear what it said or how it said it now. I know it mentioned the digestion part in the lower intestines and the by product of the enzymes used for digestion of different things. But I might have to try finding it again now for curiousity.

And even if startches start to be broken down by saliva they still have to be digested through the rest of the digestive system.

If they said starch, I'm guessing they were simplifying it without going through the whole digestion process.

[Bumblebee4]

Ok here's the closest I can find that covers it.

[doc_brietz]

You can't flush nutrients by drinking too much water.

You sure as hell can flush electrolytes though. Hyponatremia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia) is real shit. In the Army, they used to preach all this about drinking water constantly and peeing clear, which is all well and good. After privates started dying and geting sick and cramps because of this, they changed their ways. Your pee should have a slight yellow tinge. Perfectly clear is a little too close for comfort. Now, I know that fiber and protien need water for absorbtion, but 2 gallons on a day where you are not sweating your balls off seems a little much. A quart to a quart and a half an hour or so during physical labor sounds about right. Maybe it is just the medic in me, but I have yet to see a reply I like. If your doing enough work over 8 hours where you need that kind of intake, you better be eating good and not filling up on water. I am sure this is not your issue, but I can't sit here and read this and not say something.

anyhow, carry on and be safe.