How much protein per day for 16 year old (protein powder)

[Anonymous]

DS is 16 years old. He is active, swims 2x a week for 1.5 hours and lift weights at the gym 5x a week. He was really skinny and wanted ti Bull up so he meets with a trainer 1x a week and the trainer gives hi workouts for the other 4x he is at the gym. DS weights 140 pound and is 5’9 (we aren’t tall people). His trainer specializes in growing teens. DS already started to get more muscular and has asked for a protein shake. He probably gets 45-60 grams of protein a day with well balanced meals. The protein powder has 24 grams of protein per scoop, he would like to substitute breakfast for 2 scoops with milk (48+ grams of protein) instead of breakfast. I’m calculating that will bring his protein intake to approximately 70-90 grams of protein a day. My husband thinks this may lead to kidney stones. The information I get from fitness sites is conflicting, but generally lean protein + weight training is very effective. Can someone, if you have a kid with a similar training regime, offer some insight? He meets a lot of his friends at the gym, mostly football players and they all use protein supplementation so DS is adamant, but he’ll be reasonable if there is science against it.

[Anonymous]

My DS is 15 and is also very active, lifts with me 5x a week plus runs and plays lacrosse. He also wants to gain muscle (150lbs last we checked). A common calculation for athletes is 1.5g per kg of weight, so for your 64kg kid about 96g per day. Many lifters eat 2g/kg per day. My son drinks a gallon of milk per day (GOMAD) which is 128g protein. I don’t think 70-90g/day will hurt your son.

[Anonymous]

Why not meet with a nutritionist?

[Anonymous]

140-210 would be best

He needs to eat more meat

[Anonymous]

I think this is a good opportunity to start talking to your son about why he wants his body to look a certain way helping him distinguish between needing food/protein to have energy for a workout vs. to “bulk up” - he should be judging how much protein he needs by how he feels after a workout/normal day.

Food/body issues in young men are overlooked!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this is a good opportunity to start talking to your son about why he wants his body to look a certain way helping him distinguish between needing food/protein to have energy for a workout vs. to “bulk up” - he should be judging how much protein he needs by how he feels after a workout/normal day.

Food/body issues in young men are overlooked!

It's not about how he wants his body to look. He's not a bodybuilder. He wants to have muscle to get better at sports. He does not need an idiotic lecture on body positivity.

You can't possibly judge protein intake by "how you feel at the end of the day". You can feel perfectly fine and still not be getting enough protein to build muscle as well as you could if you got more protein.

[Anonymous]

I cannot answer your question, but I can suggest that you research whether and how too much protein can harm one's body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is a good opportunity to start talking to your son about why he wants his body to look a certain way helping him distinguish between needing food/protein to have energy for a workout vs. to “bulk up” - he should be judging how much protein he needs by how he feels after a workout/normal day.

Food/body issues in young men are overlooked!

It's not about how he wants his body to look. He's not a bodybuilder. He wants to have muscle to get better at sports. He does not need an idiotic lecture on body positivity.

You can't possibly judge protein intake by "how you feel at the end of the day". You can feel perfectly fine and still not be getting enough protein to build muscle as well as you could if you got more protein.

Sad if you think talking to a kid about this stuff is automatically a lecture!

Always good to check in on this stuff. Going mostly off of your words such as he is “skinny” and wants to “bulk up” - I would think if his goals are strength then yes, he could go off indicators such as how he is performing in training and how he feels. Going off of things like macros, rigid protein amounts, etc is the type of behavior that disconnects kids from paying attention to how they feel. Not a good practice in the long run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is a good opportunity to start talking to your son about why he wants his body to look a certain way helping him distinguish between needing food/protein to have energy for a workout vs. to “bulk up” - he should be judging how much protein he needs by how he feels after a workout/normal day.

Food/body issues in young men are overlooked!

It's not about how he wants his body to look. He's not a bodybuilder. He wants to have muscle to get better at sports. He does not need an idiotic lecture on body positivity.

You can't possibly judge protein intake by "how you feel at the end of the day". You can feel perfectly fine and still not be getting enough protein to build muscle as well as you could if you got more protein.

Sad if you think talking to a kid about this stuff is automatically a lecture!

Always good to check in on this stuff. Going mostly off of your words such as he is “skinny” and wants to “bulk up” - I would think if his goals are strength then yes, he could go off indicators such as how he is performing in training and how he feels. Going off of things like macros, rigid protein amounts, etc is the type of behavior that disconnects kids from paying attention to how they feel. Not a good practice in the long run.

Do you have a teen son athlete who wants to build muscle? Probably not, and therefore you should just shut up and go away. This is not about "how he feels". He has to eat a lot of protein to build muscle, period.

"talking to your son about why he wants his body to look a certain way" - yes that is going to be a lecture, and he will just roll his eyes and ignore you.

If he is 5' 9" and 140 then he is definitely skinny and needs to eat more protein.

[Anonymous]

I would just take him to a nutritionist that has experience or special certifications for athletes. I would not listen to a weight lifting trainer on nutrition. While they probably do have good advice in how to “bulk up,” it may have other health ramifications and what they know is largely anecdotal.

[Anonymous]

Op, I post this more for other parents who might be reading. When my football/weight lifting young teen wanted protein powder, he didn't even know what it was. Just saw others using it. He would have scooped anything and put it in his milk. Scary. I knew about Instant Breakfast since it had been around forever. Figured it would be safer than some non regulated supplement protein powder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, I post this more for other parents who might be reading. When my football/weight lifting young teen wanted protein powder, he didn't even know what it was. Just saw others using it. He would have scooped anything and put it in his milk. Scary. I knew about Instant Breakfast since it had been around forever. Figured it would be safer than some non regulated supplement protein powder.

NutraBio is good

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BSHMJ4Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is a good opportunity to start talking to your son about why he wants his body to look a certain way helping him distinguish between needing food/protein to have energy for a workout vs. to “bulk up” - he should be judging how much protein he needs by how he feels after a workout/normal day.

Food/body issues in young men are overlooked!

It's not about how he wants his body to look. He's not a bodybuilder. He wants to have muscle to get better at sports. He does not need an idiotic lecture on body positivity.

You can't possibly judge protein intake by "how you feel at the end of the day". You can feel perfectly fine and still not be getting enough protein to build muscle as well as you could if you got more protein.

Sad if you think talking to a kid about this stuff is automatically a lecture!

Always good to check in on this stuff. Going mostly off of your words such as he is “skinny” and wants to “bulk up” - I would think if his goals are strength then yes, he could go off indicators such as how he is performing in training and how he feels. Going off of things like macros, rigid protein amounts, etc is the type of behavior that disconnects kids from paying attention to how they feel. Not a good practice in the long run.

Do you have a teen son athlete who wants to build muscle? Probably not, and therefore you should just shut up and go away. This is not about "how he feels". He has to eat a lot of protein to build muscle, period.

"talking to your son about why he wants his body to look a certain way" - yes that is going to be a lecture, and he will just roll his eyes and ignore you.

If he is 5' 9" and 140 then he is definitely skinny and needs to eat more protein.

Teens roll their eyes and appear to ignore almost everything, but deep down they need to hear their parents say the right thing anyway. It does matter. That said I’ll definitely take you up on the offer to peace out - I could not care less how much protein this kid eats (neither should you, really)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:140-210 would be best

He needs to eat more meat

+1, 45-60 g of protein per day for an active, growing boy is not enough

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, I post this more for other parents who might be reading. When my football/weight lifting young teen wanted protein powder, he didn't even know what it was. Just saw others using it. He would have scooped anything and put it in his milk. Scary. I knew about Instant Breakfast since it had been around forever. Figured it would be safer than some non regulated supplement protein powder.

This. I would meet with a nutritionist. Protein powders are unregulated and not the first thing your teen should consider. More natural sources is best