Eating More Protein? Why You Might Need More of These Nutrients

Optimizing your protein intake has many benefits. Protein supports muscle growth and repair and keeps bones strong and resilient.¹ Neurotransmitters, enzymes, and other crucial molecules that regulate mood and metabolism rely on protein for their formation and activity.² Healthy skin, hair, and nails also depend on protein.³ 

Protein belongs front and center if you’re trying to lose or maintain weight. It keeps you feeling full for longer, curbs cravings, and helps you consume fewer calories. When you eat protein, your body releases hormones like GLP-1 and PYY, which make you feel satisfied after eating. GLP-1 slows stomach emptying, keeping food in your stomach longer, while PYY signals to your brain that you’re full, reducing your appetite and helping you eat less overall.⁴ 

Three Nutrients You Need With a High-Protein Diet

When you boost your protein intake, you also want to ensure your body receives the key nutrients that support protein metabolism, or the process of breaking down dietary protein into amino acids. Lacking them can impair protein metabolism and lead to muscle weakness, fatigue, impaired immune function, slow wound healing, and more. 

Here are three essential nutrients to support your higher-protein diet.

1. Vitamin B6

Protein metabolism relies heavily on vitamin B6. This essential vitamin helps break down dietary proteins into amino acids, necessary for building muscles, repairing tissues, and producing enzymes and hormones.⁵ About 20% of your body’s vitamin B6 contributes to amino acid metabolism.⁶ Higher protein intake increases the demand for vitamin B6. This vitamin also helps enzymes convert amino acids into different substances your body needs, including hormones and hemoglobin (the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen).⁷

Without sufficient vitamin B6, your body may struggle to process and utilize dietary protein efficiently, leading to potential imbalances or impaired protein metabolism.⁸ This deficiency can hinder your ability to preserve muscle mass, repair tissue, and produce enzymes and hormones.^{9, 10}

How to Get Optimal Levels of Vitamin B6

The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine establishes Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) for vitamins and minerals. The RDA of vitamin B6 for females aged 19-50 is 1.3 mg/day. For women aged 51 and older, the recommended amount of vitamin B6 increases to 1.5 mg/day, which is particularly important for managing menopausal symptoms like anxiety and sleep disturbances.¹¹ 

Incorporating vitamin B6-rich foods into your diet is essential to meet these needs. Excellent sources of vitamin B6 include poultry, fish, beef, avocado, and chickpeas.¹² Additionally, taking a multivitamin or a B-complex supplement can help you get enough vitamin B6 to support protein metabolism and overall health.

2. Molybdenum 

Molybdenum is a trace mineral needed in small amounts for enzymes that help break down and build amino acids.¹³ This mineral also helps convert sulfur-containing amino acids, like methionine and cysteine, into forms your body can use for various functions, including protein synthesis, detoxification, and antioxidant defense.¹⁴

Despite needing less molybdenum than other minerals like calcium or magnesium, this mineral plays a crucial role in these processes. Insufficient molybdenum can lead to difficulties metabolizing amino acids, affecting how your body uses protein.¹⁵ Molybdenum deficiencies can also increase your body’s need for vitamin B6, further complicating protein metabolism and overall health.¹⁶

How to Get Optimal Levels of Molybdenum

The RDA for molybdenum is 45 micrograms (mcg).¹⁷ You’ll find molybdenum in legumes, lentils, peas, nuts, seeds, leafy greens, and organ meats.¹⁸ Taking a multivitamin may ensure you meet your daily molybdenum needs.

3. Biotin 

Biotin, also called vitamin B7 or vitamin H, is a water-soluble vitamin that helps metabolize fats, carbohydrates, and amino acids.¹⁹ It supports collagen synthesis to maintain healthy skin, hair, and nails,²⁰ and can improve sleep quality.²¹ One study found that a higher intake of biotin could support a healthy mood and help lower depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms.²² These benefits can be helpful when experiencing hormonal changes during menopause.

Biotin plays a vital role in converting amino acids into adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the primary energy currency of cells that supports numerous processes, including muscle contraction. This vitamin also helps convert amino acids into glucose, providing energy for the brain and red blood cells. It helps make fatty acids, hormones, DNA, and RNA for the growth, repair, and maintenance of cells throughout your body.^{23, 24}

When you’re eating higher amounts of protein, you need optimal biotin levels to ensure your body efficiently uses amino acids.²⁵ Without enough biotin, your body may struggle to process the increased protein intake, potentially leading to muscle weakness, fatigue, lower hormone production, and hair and skin issues.^26-30

How to Get Optimal Levels of Biotin

To ensure you get enough biotin, include biotin-rich foods in your diet such as eggs, nuts, seeds, fish, and dairy products. Although the exact RDA for biotin isn’t well-established, a general daily intake of 30-100 micrograms (mcg) is often recommended. A multivitamin or a B-complex supplement can help you meet your biotin needs and support efficient protein metabolism.^{31, 32} 

Optimize Protein Intake by Breaking It Down Well

Getting optimal amounts of protein is only half the battle. Equally important is your body’s ability to effectively break down and utilize that protein. 

With age, you make fewer digestive enzymes and stomach acid, which break down protein into amino acids. This reduced efficiency can lead to poorer digestion and absorption of dietary protein, impacting muscle maintenance, energy levels, and more.³³

Even the best dietary protein sources—and the nutrients that break down protein—can’t fully benefit your body without proper digestion. A comprehensive digestive enzyme supplement can help break down protein. Protein First Enzymes include:

• A comprehensive blend of proprietary digestive enzymes to support the optimal digestion of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. 
• Betaine hydrochloride (Betaine HCl) to help break down protein by increasing the stomach’s acidity. This higher acidity activates pepsin, an enzyme that breaks down proteins into smaller peptides, making them easier to digest and absorb. 
• Enzymes that break down hard-to-digest ingredients like gluten and dairy.

Taking Protein First Enzymes before meals can enhance your body’s ability to digest and absorb vital nutrients, ensuring you get the full benefits of your high-protein diet.* 

Order Protein First Enzymes here.

References:

1. Carbone JW, Pasiakos SM. Dietary Protein and Muscle Mass: Translating Science to Application and Health Benefit. Nutrients. 2019 May 22;11(5):1136. doi: 10.3390/nu11051136. PMID: 31121843; PMCID: PMC6566799.
2. Teleanu RI, Niculescu AG, Roza E, Vladâcenco O, Grumezescu AM, Teleanu DM. Neurotransmitters-Key Factors in Neurological and Neurodegenerative Disorders of the Central Nervous System. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 May 25;23(11):5954. doi: 10.3390/ijms23115954. PMID: 35682631; PMCID: PMC9180936.
3. Healthline: 9 Important Functions of Protein in Your Body
4. Healthline: How Protein Shakes Help with Weight Loss and Belly Fat
5. Bender DA. Vitamin B6 requirements and recommendations. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1989 May;43(5):289-309. PMID: 2661220.
6. Bender DA. Novel functions of vitamin B6. Proc Nutr Soc. 1994 Nov;53(3):625-30. doi: 10.1079/pns19940071. PMID: 7886061.
7. National Institutes of Health: Vitamin B6 – Health Professional Fact Sheet
8. ScienceDirect: Vitamin B6 – an overview
9. Kumrungsee T, Onishi K, Komaru T, Yanaka N, Kato N. Vitamin B6 Regulates Muscle Satellite Cell Function: A Novel Possible Role of Vitamin B6 in Muscle Regeneration. Curr Dev Nutr. 2020 May 29;4(Suppl 2):1818. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzaa067_045. PMCID: PMC7259208.
10. Meisler NT, Thanassi JW. Vitamin B-6 metabolism and its relation to ornithine decarboxylase activity in regenerating rat liver. J Nutr. 1982 Feb;112(2):314-23. doi: 10.1093/jn/112.2.314. PMID: 6276518.
11. National Institutes of Health: Vitamin B6 – Consumer – NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
12. Healthline: Best 15 Vitamin B-6 Foods: Benefits and Recipes
13. Healthline: Why Molybdenum Is an Essential Nutrient
14. ScienceDirect: Sulfur content in foods and beverages and its role in human and animal metabolism: A scoping review of recent studies
15. Zhang Y, Gladyshev VN. Molybdoproteomes and evolution of molybdenum utilization. J Mol Biol. 2008 Jun 13;379(4):881-99. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2008.03.051. Epub 2008 Apr 3. PMID: 18485362; PMCID: PMC2670968.
16. Zhang Y, Gladyshev VN. Molybdoproteomes and evolution of molybdenum utilization. J Mol Biol. 2008 Jun 13;379(4):881-99. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2008.03.051. Epub 2008 Apr 3. PMID: 18485362; PMCID: PMC2670968.
17. Harvard University: Molybdenum – The Nutrition Source
18. National Institutes of Health: Molybdenum – Health Professional Fact Sheet
19. Mount Sinai: Vitamin H (Biotin) Information
20. Mayo Clinic News Network: Mayo Clinic Q and A: Collagen and biotin supplements
21. Semantic Scholar: The Fascio Effect: Biotin and Sleep
22. Mahdavifar B, Hosseinzadeh M, Salehi-Abargouei A, Mirzaei M, Vafa M. Dietary intake of B vitamins and their association with depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms: A cross-sectional, population-based survey. J Affect Disord. 2021 Jun 1;288:92-98. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.03.055. Epub 2021 Mar 26. PMID: 33848753.
23. Linus Pauling Institute: Biotin 
24. Cui QL, Lin YH, Xu YKT, Fernandes MGF, Rao VTS, Kennedy TE, Antel J. Effects of Biotin on survival, ensheathment, and ATP production by oligodendrocyte lineage cells in vitro. PLoS One. 2020 May 29;15(5):e0233859. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0233859. PMID: 32470040; PMCID: PMC7259710.
25. Medical News Today: Biotin: Benefits, sources, and safety
26. Ochoa-Ruiz E, Díaz-Ruiz R, Hernández-Vázquez Ade J, Ibarra-González I, Ortiz-Plata A, Rembao D, Ortega-Cuéllar D, Viollet B, Uribe-Carvajal S, Corella JA, Velázquez-Arellano A. Biotin deprivation impairs mitochondrial structure and function and has implications for inherited metabolic disorders. Mol Genet Metab. 2015 Nov;116(3):204-14. doi: 10.1016/j.ymgme.2015.08.009. Epub 2015 Sep 1. PMID: 26343941.
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29. Báez-Saldaña A, Camacho-Arroyo I, Espinosa-Aguirre JJ, Neri-Gómez T, Rojas-Ochoa A, Guerra-Araiza C, Larrieta E, Vital P, Díaz G, Chavira R, Fernandez-Mejia C. Biotin deficiency and biotin excess: effects on the female reproductive system. Steroids. 2009 Oct;74(10-11):863-9. doi: 10.1016/j.steroids.2009.06.004. Epub 2009 Jun 18. PMID: 19540254.
30. Northwestern Scholars: Biotinidase deficiency.
31. National Institutes of Health: Biotin – Health Professional Fact Sheet
32. National Institutes of Health: Biotin Deficiency – StatPearls
33. Milan AM, D’Souza RF, Pundir S, Pileggi CA, Thorstensen EB, Barnett MP, Markworth JF, Cameron-Smith D, Mitchell CJ. Older Adults Have Delayed Amino Acid Absorption after a High Protein Mixed Breakfast Meal. J Nutr Health Aging. 2015 Oct;19(8):839-45. doi: 10.1007/s12603-015-0500-5. PMID: 26412288.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. Products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The views in this blog by JJ Virgin should never be used as a substitute for professional medical advice. Please work with a healthcare practitioner concerning any medical problem or concern.