How Much Protein Do You Need? Recipe

Smoked trout from Gramercy Tavern

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Americans are obsessed with protein. We eat more fresh meat per capita than all other countries, except for China (#1) and Brazil (#2) and yet trendy diets encourage people to eat even more meat to lose weight or be cavemen. Though to be honest, there's only one way to lose weight - create a calorie deficit by eating less and/or exercising more, but that's another post. (For a nifty graphic on food consumption by country, check out this New York Times graphic.)

So how much protein do you need? You can't overdose on it (though there's a very slim possibility of getting kidney stones from eating too…