Wasting - feel deflated

Question

When I was 32, I felt weird, like my body was losing elasticity or deflating or something. It took me some time to put that together with the fact that I had finally completely given up meat around that time. I thought I was just getting older.

But it got worse and worse and I finally realized protein was the only thing that made sense. I hadn't been thinking much about my protein intake.

I began trying to be more strategic with it, eventually keeping track of my daily intake as best I could. 

I am having to aim for what I'm calculating as 75 g per day to maintain what seems like a normal firmness in non-exercised places like my face. I either fit into the sedentary or lightly active category. Eating 75 g does improve the situation, but I have to do it every day and this is next to impossible because I'm struggling to find healthy, vegetarian foods in quantities that aren't dangerous to reach that amount without disturbing my digestion so bad I have to stop. I also don't understand why I'm having to target way above what my daily recommended intake is supposed to be.

I just now discovered complete protein, but the information online varies. I could make three separate lists based on what I've read that completely contradict each other. I also don't understand why I'm eating many complete proteins, according to some lists, and still find myself in this mess. No one I've found says how much of your protein intake needs to be a complete protein.

I don't think my intake per meal is too much to digest at once, some page online said 20 - 45 in a meal. I guess that's accurate. I don't know. What makes the difference between whether it's 20 or 45?

Does everyone else have to think about it this much? 

I really don't think I have an inability to process protein because I never had a noticeable problem before and when I research that, it doesn't make sense either. And I can fix it with the 75 g, if I can sustain that amount.

Otherwise, my health is good. I don't have any other new symptoms since becoming a vegetarian and I was told my health was better than average for my age, but by a specialist who had just done blood work but said she didn't know much about the protein angle.

JayVeraSummer · Answer

The recommended amount of protein is .36 grams per pound of body weight per day. So someone who weighs 150 would need 54 grams. Does 75 grams make sense for your body given that calculation? If not, you probably don't need that much, whether you're a vegan or an omnivore.

What makes you think your protein intake is causing your face to look differently? I'm questioning if those two things are actually related. Maybe it's something else, like water intake, or getting enough of a certain nutrient?

Runninginthegrass · Answer

Well, for several reasons.

The change happened suddenly, and then got worse again suddenly. I told my mother I felt like I'd lost a third of my body's elasticity overnight.

If it's age, I can't imagine why everyone doesn't freak out when it happens to them or at least mention it. No one seems to even know what I'm talking about. This is much more concerning to me than gray hairs or wrinkles, which are what everyone does talk about with aging. I also didn't expect to have a drastic sign of aging at 32, though I did have a few gray hairs. 

Also, when I started eating more protein, it did improve some. It's not gone. In fact, as of now, I seem to have lost complete control over it again. But when I first started being more mindful of my protein intake, I felt much more normal again.

At this point, because it's so out of control and I can't think of what to do about it, I'm thinking of it mainly as age and still halfway trying what little I can think of to change about my diet just in case. 

When I was eating 75 grams of protein including a snack of a lot of pistachios at night, I was my firmest again. I had to stop eating them because I was eating too many and it made me sick. It's the last thing I can think of to try, because it did seem to be effective, so I'm eating them again at the recommended amount and seeing where that gets me. If it doesn't help, I guess I'll just give up and hope I'm worrying about nothing.


I did once read an article about how some vegetables actually eat muscle or have the opposite effect of building it or something, but I can't seem to find out what it was.

JayVeraSummer · Answer

Hm. Have you talked to a doctor? Is your skin visibly loose in the sense that you can pinch it and pull it away from your body more than is normal? I know that can happen with some connective tissue disorders.

I feel like it's unlikely the issue is related to eating vegan. But I guess there could be something in your diet that you haven't been eating enough of. Good luck figuring things out!

Runninginthegrass · Answer

I tried to ask my gynecologist, because that is the doctor I've seen other than a dentist or eye doctor since this happened, but she didn't know what I was talking about. 

Thank you for answering me.

Partchoose · Answer

I can assure you this issue has nothing at all do with with protein. From a science standpoint and a logical ones. If it did , many other people would be complaining about this.

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