JJ Virgin and a protein researcher argue protein is the key nutrient for menopause, helping with body recomposition and cravings. A 7-day challenge targeting 0.7-1g per kilogram of body weight reduced hunger and belly fat. The protein leverage hypothesis explains why people overeat processed foods when they don't hit their daily protein target.
Back over to protein real quick before we wrap up.
The menopause nutrient. The menopause nutrient. That is my opinion. I'm a protein researcher, so I guess I'm biased. It does everything to help counter the negative physiological adapt— morphological adaptations that happen.
Well, and I love that because it gets people to understand that it's got to be the priority.
Yes.
Because, you know, the biggest thing I hear up there is, "How do you eat that much protein?" I'm like, I eat more protein than my body weight. Like, I eat a lot of protein. I eat more than that. I default over to probably 200 grams a day most times. I look at my little chronometer, I went, oops, you know. It's like Christmas Eve, we were at the Brazilian Steakhouse. I would say they lose money when my family walks in because we're like, no salad bar for us, we're just going in, bring us the picanha. So I don't have any issues with that. But for someone, there's a lot of protein fear, just like there's fear of cardio for, you know, for cortisol. There's fear of protein. And, you know, from everything that I can tell, like, it would be really hard to overdo it on protein. Like, you're going to get really full.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm not aware of any research. And again, I prioritize protein. I educate on protein. The last thing I want to do is tell somebody to do something that is not healthy or that's harmful. I don't want to tell my children eat high protein if it's unhealthy. I've never been able to find one study, one intervention study. Now, if we're going to talk about correlations and associations, you probably could find a study, but you can make them— you can make any argument with correlation. And again, correlation does not mean causation. I've never found a research study that has reported that high levels of protein intake are harmful to the body. Now, if it's really high carbs and you're sedentary, I think that you put yourself on a path to prediabetes and diabetes. If you are eating very high fat for a long period of time, I think we can— we have some data that would suggest that's probably not ideal for your health. But protein, and like you said, good luck trying to overeat on protein. You get full pretty quick. And if you're training, It's the— well, even if you're not training, if— let me just say, if you are starting with a suboptimal amount of protein and you increase it to optimal amounts, that is a stimulus for body recomposition in a good direction. Research has reported you will build muscle and you will lose fat going from very low levels, just getting them to optimal level.
All right, so do not fear the protein.
Do not fear it. Prioritize it.
Prioritize it. Yes. My biggest thing is, honestly, for women, eat it first.
Yeah, I like that.
That's because otherwise they eat all the other stuff and then they're full. I'm like, no.
Yes. Or some people in the population, they'll eat that other stuff and they'll keep eating and keep eating.
That goes back to leverage.
Yes, yes. Which I, I mean, that is a fascinating hypothesis. That basically, real quick, I don't think it's a hypothesis anymore, is it?
It's just called that now.
Yes, probably. Yeah, they call it the protein leverage hypothesis. But real quick, a the hypothesis, although I think we have, well, the human research is very good supporting this. You will be hungry and you'll have a drive to eat until you eat a given threshold of protein each day. So once you eat that protein, once you reach this threshold of protein each day, you are now satiated and full. Until you do, you will keep, you will keep being hungry and the research says you go for high-fat, highly processed foods.
I always think it's the nacho cheese Dorito diet because it's the umami that they fake, make it taste like protein. Oh yeah, yeah. So I never thought of that. I didn't think of it, I read it. No, I was like, oh, that makes a ton of sense, where the food companies then would play on this to create things that would dupe you into thinking you're getting something but you're not.
So that hypothesis is more of a preventing weight gain than it is weight fat loss.
The easiest thing, you know, I had this little Eat Protein First 7-Day Challenge, and I did it to prove a point. I always love things that give you a quick win. And literally, when people do this where they have to find out how much protein is right for them, right? We have a little calculator. So point— I do 0.7 to 1 gram, and then they eat that first for a week, and they're all their meals. And it was like, people are like, oh, I don't have the cravings anymore. Oh, I'm not hungry anymore. Oh, I have more energy. Oh, I lost weight. Oh, my belly fat went down.
I was going to say, I bet you have some body composition changes.
Quickly, quickly. Like, it's such an easy win. So the menopause nutrient is really a great way to think of it because that's where it should be. Like, this should be your key focus and design your diet around this. Yes, yes. Design your, your exercise program around resistance training and design your diet around protein, and then of course go to sleep.
