Protein is an absolutely essential macronutrient. Unlike carbohydrates, you cannot survive for long periods of time without consuming protein.
Protein is the stuff that makes up your body tissue, and as a last resort, protein can be used as an energy source for your body as well. This happens when the body is in starvation mode, and is so biologically hungry that it is literally tearing itself apart in an attempt to survive. You never want to be in a state where your body is using protein as its primary energy source, because you will be very close to starvation death in that case.
Human muscles are effectively made of protein, and when your muscles are exercised, it is protein which builds them back up stronger than before.
It is for this reason that concept of protein has reached almost religious significance in the world of fitness, physique, and certainly bodybuilding. Doing even a brief search of the Internet on the subject of protein consumption for building muscles, you will get information which talks about consuming excessive amounts of protein every day, usually described by grams of protein to be consumed for every kilogram of your body weight.
A very common piece of advice in this modern protein mythology is that you should aim to consume 2 grams of protein for every kilogram that you weight. The mythology therefore advises 160 g of daily protein consumption for an 80 kg male.
This is completely, off the charts, crazy.
The average 80 kg person, who is not taking steroids or training like an Olympic athlete for four hours a day, cannot possibly utilise 160 g of protein per day in their body. This is an area where the fitness industry diverges incorrectly from the generally accepted dietary and medical advice.
Nysteia is about giving advice to normal people living normal, active lives.
The absolute minimum amount of protein which you should be consuming on a daily basis is 0.8 g per kilogram of body weight. The 80 kg person should therefore be consuming no less than 64 g of protein per day.
Since you are living an active life, walking every day and strength training a couple of times per week, a little bit more protein per day is advisable.
Therefore, we recommend daily protein consumption targets of 1 g to 1.2 g per kilo of body weight, and if you happen to go over this amount from time to time, that’s no problem. However, you should not force-feed yourself protein filled meals, in an attempt to raise your protein intake to the stupid levels generally advised by the fitness industry.