No, of course not. It's not even necessary to eat protein every day. Many people do 24 hour fasts without problems - even athletic types. Often the athletic types.

Getting a certain amount of protein (on average) is important because it's the only way to get the amino acids your cells need to construct the wide variety of proteins that do just about everything.

The certain amount is something we sometimes quibble over, so perhaps it isn't so certain... Somewhere between 15-25% of maintenance calories is usually a good ballpark.

By the way, 1 whole avocado has about 9 grams of protein. :)

Paleo doesn't dictate which ratio of macronutrients is necessary (or even optimal) in each meal. Ancestral hunter-gatherers probably wouldn't have paid much mind to it.

However, there is scientific research that suggests that you can benefit from controlling such ratios. For instance, for the Zone diet (which can be combined with Paleo), Barry Sears and others have advocated a 3:2:2 ratio of carbs:proteins:fats for a variety of reasons. One of the primary reasons is hormone balance. To oversimplify things, your body reacts to carbs through insulin and proteins through glucagon, and Sears argues that controlling these hormones through diet can generate certain health benefits.

I don't see why you should worry about including protein in every meal. Doesn't seem natural at all to perfectly balance every meal. I would try to keep a decent intake on average though. By the way, in my experience the fastest way to put on weight is combining fats ad carbs, such as fruit with almond butter, potatoes with tons of butter, full fat yogurt with a bunch of fruit mixed in, etc. I avoid doing this as much as possible because I am focused on leaning out a bit more and have to be careful, I stick to one or the other based on the day's activities and other factors- but I think you will have the best luck if your non-protein meals are heavy on both fats and carbs!

Hi, Dan. 22 as well, and my main protein sources come from fish/seafood and chicken, but I do also eat beef (about 1x per week). personally I don't think getting protein in with every meal is that imperative, UNLESS I want to gain weight. Basically no matter how many carbs I eat, I can gain weight unless I'm eating over 150g protein per day. I would not be able to do that in under 3 meals, so if I were trying to gain weight I would eat protein in small portions 4-6x per day. However, when i'm not trying to gain weight, I just eat SOMETHING 4-6x a day- a piece of fruit, raw veggies or a salad without protein, a chicken breast with avocado, a bowl of steamed spinach with a yukon gold potato, some scallops, a cup of berries. That's eating 6x a day and only two of the meals are protein. I've got 30lbs on you at the same height, and it's how I eat often without compromising muscle mass. In the end I wouldn't worry about it unless actively trying to gain a good amount of (muscle) weight.

Protein is not necessary, in it's purest form. I do a lot of fasting, and after you get past a day or two, your body will pull from stored energy stores, fat, for the energy it needs to run the body. If you go for more than 72 hours, ketosis sets and your brain begins to use ketones for energy.

You might consider a medical grade fast for your rheumatoid arthritis. It would not be easy, but a good long medical fast typically cures that ailment. Check out "Fasting and Eating for Health: A Medical Doctor's Program for Conquering Disease," by Joel Fuhrman and Neal Barnard.

Protein drinks, or maybe the favorite smoothies, really are a basic blend of various nuts, some fruits along with milk. Musclemen particularly like drinks which is a huge help in the bodybuilding procedure, plus it enhances the function of our own digestive system. Protein drinks may also enhance our metabolism and allow us to lose body fat easier.

There are various other food items, which will help you begin every day in a best way, to illustrate, grape fruit or perhaps orange juice. They are simply filled with natural vitamins, minerals and also healthy proteins on top of that. There are many different sources of protein. Then again, you are able to take in milk every morning which we recommend in case you don’t have symptoms of lactose intolerance.

There is certainly a very important factor you must keep away from, which happens to be to start out the day with a coffee. It usually is far better to drink a full cup of fresh squeezed juice. It is usually not suggested to avoid the morning meal as you could really feel fatigued and sleepy. To avert this, often try and have a nutritious morning meal.

I like J. Stanton's answer: http://www.gnolls.org/1794/why-snacking-makes-you-weak-not-just-fat/

Quote from the above: "Every time you stimulate insulin production by eating carbohydrates, you need to eat some complete protein with it—or instead of rebuilding your muscles and tissues, your body will continue to disassemble itself to get that protein."

So my take is that if you're eating just fat with little carb or mostly vegetables, that's alright. But if you're eating a good amount of starch, be sure to get some protein with it.