Raising the Steaks
Most people get protein wrong: too little, bad timing, or low quality. The fix? Eat 1.6–2.2g/kg daily, spread across real meals. Prioritize animal protein (sorry, tofu). It’s not just about muscles. It’s about aging well. Get this right, and everything changes.

It happened again at a birthday party. A group of my wife's friends pulled me into a conversation about protein intake—how much they should be eating, whether they were getting enough, and why women, in particular, tend to undereat protein without even realizing it. It felt like hitting a nerve. There was a lack of knowledge, confusion, and plenty of misinformation.
A few weeks later, over dinner, I talked with a friend who had just lost 10 kg. Great, right? Except he also felt weaker. "I think I lost a lot of muscle," he admitted.
Two different settings, but the same fundamental problem. It's not just you. Many people are getting protein wrong. It's a significant issue. Some people aren't eating enough, and others eat it at the bad times. Then, there's the quality issue—not all proteins are equal.
So, let's examine the biggest protein mistakes—why they happen, why they matter, and, most importantly, how to fix them.
Mistake #1: You Think You're Eating Enough Protein (But You're Not)
There's a reason people struggle to lose weight and keep muscle. It's not metabolism, genetics, or the universe conspiring against them. It's usually under-eating protein.
The official recommendation—the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance)—tells you to aim for 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. That means a 70 kg (154 lb) person "needs" 56 grams of protein daily. That's the number you see everywhere. It's useless if you care about building muscle, maintaining strength, or aging well.
The RDA isn't a recommendation for optimal health—it's just the bare minimum to avoid outright deficiency. You need much more to preserve muscle, recover from exercise, or lose fat without losing strength.
For most people, the real target should be 1.6–2.2 g per kg (or ~0.7–1 g per lb) of body weight. More if you're training hard. Less if you're sedentary. But that's where muscle growth, recovery, and metabolic health thrive.
This is where people nod and say, "I eat enough protein." But do you? Because when you start tracking, reality hits fast.
A chicken breast? 31 grams of protein per 100g. A 170-gram (6 oz) serving of salmon? About 40g. A cup of cottage cheese? 28g. If you're eating plant-based, you must work harder. A cup of cooked black beans? Just 8g of protein. Even tofu, often touted as a protein powerhouse, only has 8g per 100g.
You may fall short if your diet isn't built around clear, intentional protein sources. And here's something most people don't realize—protein doesn't just help build muscle. It also burns more calories.
Every time you eat, your body burns energy digesting and metabolizing food. This is called the thermic effect of food (TEF), and protein burns far more energy in digestion than carbs or fats.
- Eat 100 calories of fat? You keep about 97 of them.
- Eat 100 calories of carbs? You keep about 90–95.
- Eat 100 calories of protein? You keep only 65–85 because the rest gets burned off just in processing.
This is why high-protein diets consistently outperform others for fat loss. You're burning more energy just by eating the right foods. There's much more to say about TEF, metabolism, and how protein fits into fat loss. I'll cover that in an upcoming newsletter dedicated to weight loss. Stay tuned.
But first, how should you eat protein throughout the day?
Mistake #2: You're Eating It at the Wrong Times—And Absorbing It Poorly
Eating enough protein is one thing. Another aspect is consuming it in a way that your body can utilize. The usual mistake? Under-eating at breakfast, snacking on small amounts throughout the day, and then loading up at dinner.
Your body doesn't store protein the way it stores carbs or fat. Muscle protein synthesis (MPS)—the process of repairing and building muscle—only activates when you eat enough protein in a single meal.
For years, the thinking was that 20–30 grams per meal was the max your body could use for muscle building. Anything more? "Wasted." However, a new study has challenged this idea. Researchers found that even 100 grams of protein in a single meal could still be used for muscle growth—just not all at once. The key? Absorption speed.
Fast-digesting proteins like whey, chicken, or lean meats get processed quickly, so it's still optimal to spread your intake across multiple meals. However, your body can handle larger doses at once if you eat slow-digesting proteins like casein, whole eggs, or mixed meals with fats and fiber.
If you want to get protein timing right:
- Eat at least 25–30g per meal to trigger muscle protein synthesis.
- Eat fast-digesting proteins, spread intake across 3–5 meals.
- Eat slow-digesting proteins, your body can handle larger meals.
And no, snacking on 15g protein bars all day doesn't count. Your body needs real meals with real protein.
Mistake #3: Thinking Plant Protein Is Just as Good as Animal Protein (It's Not)
You're in the best position if you're getting your protein from meat, dairy, eggs, and whey. If you're vegetarian or vegan, you have to work significantly harder. That's just reality.
Most plant proteins lack one or more essential amino acids, meaning they aren't as effective for muscle growth or maintenance. The bioavailability—how well your body absorbs and uses the protein—is also lower in plant sources than in animal proteins.
Take a look at some numbers:
- Chicken breast (31g per 100g) vs. tofu (8g per 100g).
- Ribeye steak (25g per 100g) vs. black beans (8g per 100g).
- Eggs (13g per 100g) vs. chickpeas (9g per 100g).
If you choose to be vegetarian or vegan, you need to compensate. That means:
- Eat larger total amounts of protein to make up for lower absorption.
- Combine different plant protein sources (e.g., beans + rice) to get a complete amino acid profile.
- Choose high-quality plant-based proteins like soy, pea protein isolate, or mycoprotein ("protein from fungus").
But you don't have a strong ethical or medical reason to avoid animal protein? In that case, there's no reason to make your life harder. Eat your meat. If that hurts some feelings, I'm not sorry. It's just science.
That's the Protein Playbook
Most people eat too little protein. Many who think they're getting enough aren't distributing it properly. Even those who get both right might compromise quality.
Get this right, and everything changes.
The protein debate will keep going, but the fundamentals don't change.
The next time you meet me at a birthday party or have dinner with me, hit me with your protein questions. I'll be ready.
That's the meat of the matter. Stay healthy.
Andre
A note for new readers:
I’m a trained reconstructive facial surgeon, medical doctor, and dentist by training. Before launching my newsletter, I had a varied career: I was a competitive freestyle wrestler, a management consultant (McKinsey), an entrepreneur (Zocdoc, Thermondo, and docdre ventures), and a corporate executive (Sandoz). Today, I’m a Managing Director and Partner at BCG.
If this is your first time here, welcome. I’m excited to share what I’ve learned—and will continue to learn—with you.
DISCLAIMER:
Let’s get one thing straight: None of this—whether text, graphics, images, or anything else—is medical or health advice. This newsletter is here to inform, educate, and (hopefully) entertain you, not to diagnose or treat you.
Yes, I’m a trained medical doctor and dentist. No, I’m not your doctor. The content here isn’t a replacement for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
If you have questions about your health, talk to your physician or a qualified health professional. Don’t ignore their advice or delay getting care because of something you read in Health, Redefined. Be smart. Do your research. And, as always, take care of yourself.