Latest news with #StuartPhillips
Business Insider
13-08-2025
- Health
- Business Insider
A protein researcher shares his easy go-to breakfast for strong muscles and good health
If nutrition expert Stuart Phillips could pinpoint just one time in your day when you could amp up the protein, he suspects it might be at the breakfast table. As one of the world's leading experts on protein and a nutrition scientist who's been studying this macronutrient for decades, he says the protein craze has gone a little overboard lately, with products like protein water and protein ice cream becoming trendy. "Protein's appearing in places where I don't think it has any business," Phillips, a professor of human physiology and nutrition science at McMaster University, recently told the Zoe nutrition podcast. "Nobody's truly — in our societies — deficient in protein." Instead, he says, some people might be "just a little bit under what I think is the recommended intake" of protein — a problem that can be easily solved without adding any new pricey supplements or ultra-processed products to your day. His own protein-rich go-to breakfast is cheap, sustaining, and flexible. Greek yogurt has more protein and fewer carbs than regular yogurt Phillips is part of a growing chorus of researchers and nutrition buffs who acknowledge that our current recommended dietary allowances of protein are a little bit low for most people. "A meal where people — I don't say under-consume protein — but that tends to be carbohydrate-heavy is breakfast," he said. For decades, our morning meals have been too often steered by ultraprocessed carbs like cereals, pancake mix, muffins, and toast. "Carbohydrates and fats, they're fuel," he says, but "protein is the structural component of everything." For him, the easiest way to make breakfast a more protein-rich meal is to begin with a bed of yogurt, instead of bread. "My superfood at breakfast is Greek-style yogurt," he said. It's a little higher in protein than regular yogurt, and pairs easily with other healthy, nutrient-rich breakfast staples. "Throw some nuts, throw some seeds, throw some fruit in there — it's probably my go-to breakfast just about every day." If you have a cup of whole, plain Greek yogurt (20g) for breakfast, topped with a quarter cup of mixed nuts (5.5g), a teaspoon of chia seeds (1g), and half a cup of mixed berries (0.5g), that's already about 27 grams of protein. No matter who you are or what your muscle-building goals may be, you're well on your way to meeting your daily requirements that way. How much protein do you really need? A quick and dirty formula Nutrition experts don't quite agree on how much protein is too much, but Phillips says that many people have been overdoing it lately, overreacting to the idea that our recommended guidelines lowball us. "The pendulum becomes 'well we need to get protein because we're not getting enough' but that's not the message," he said. "Actually, a lot of people are getting more than enough." His current recommendation? Consume about 1 gram of protein per kilogram of your body weight each day. If you know your weight in pounds, divide that number by 2.2 to find your rough protein target, in grams. For example, someone who weighs 150 lbs should consume around 68 grams of protein. Older people should strive to get a bit more, maybe around 1.2 grams per kilo of body weight, Phillips said. Lots of influencers and wellness gurus are recommending way more than that. Dr. Peter Attia, a popular longevity physician, recommends more than double what Phillips does, at about 2.2 grams per kilo. We've been through this charade with other macronutrients before. First, carbs were touted as the health foods of the 1980s and 90s, then fat had its heyday in the 2000s. Now, it's protein's turn to be the rockstar macronutrient. Don't get caught up in this hype cycle. Researchers generally agree that anything more than 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram each day is overkill. "I do think that the benefits of protein probably stop a lot sooner than a lot of people are making out," Phillips said.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New program gives nondeployable sailors more opportunities to serve
A recently announced Navy initiative will help expand work opportunities for sailors unable to deploy by placing them in shore billets that suit their unique expertise, according to a service administrative fact sheet released Monday. The EMPLOY program will place sailors who are dealing with injury or serious illness into positions that match their rank, and which would otherwise be gapped, a Navy spokesperson told Military Times. 'EMPLOY helps retain Sailors who desire to continue to serve, and also preserves valuable knowledge, skills, and experience needed to meet our warfighting mission,' the NAVADMIN said. EMPLOY was also created to reduce the administrative burden on the Disability Evaluation System, which determines whether a service member is eligible to return to duty, medically separate or medically retire due to a disability. A collaboration between Navy Personnel Command and the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, the voluntary program is open to active duty sailors and sailors in the Navy's Training and Administration of the Reserve program who are 'clinically stable and able to complete tasks associated with their rank/rate in a non-operational environment,' according to the Navy. 'This is about meeting the mission while also taking care of our people,' said Lt. Cmdr. Stuart Phillips, public affairs officer for Navy Personnel Command. How a sailor shortage is crippling ship maintenance at sea The program could apply, hypothetically, to a nondeployable sailor recovering from a musculoskeletal injury or one under observation after surviving cancer, Stuart said. Sailors will serve on EMPLOY tours for a minimum of 24 months and will be reevaluated during that time — no later than 15 months before their projected rotation date — for eligibility to return to full duty, another EMPLOY tour, referral to the disability system or separation from the service. Sailors assigned to career fields that require special duty screenings will need to complete the screening or de-screening process before being considered for EMPLOY. The EMPLOY process begins with military medical providers nominating a sailor for the program. The nomination will be considered for approval by a Medical Evaluation Board and convening authority. After, the sailor's command will fill out a candidate assessment form to evaluate the sailor. The Deployability Assessment and Assignment Branch (PERS-454) will then review the sailor's medical evaluation and candidate assessment form to determine EMPLOY eligibility. Detailers will work with sailors to negotiate their orders, or, if eligible, sailors may participate in the Senior Enlisted Marketplace, according to the admin message. EMPLOY sailors may be stationed at any Type 1 or Type 6 duty station. Type 1 duty stations include shore duty assignments in the U.S., including Hawaii and Anchorage, Alaska, where sailors aren't required to be away from their duty station more than 150 days per year or attend schooling for 18 months or more, according to the Navy. Type 6 duty stations include overseas shore duty assignments where sailors aren't required to be away from their duty station more than 150 days per year. Sailors approved for the program will have the opportunity to apply for cross-rating or redesignation if the new job requires it. Sailors without enough time left in their enlistment contract to complete an EMPLOY tour may also receive a conditional reenlistment contract. Phillips told Navy Times that the first iteration of the EMPLOY model was introduced during a phased roll-out last year, with the first sailor gaining approval for the program in May 2024. So far, 850 sailors have been considered for EMPLOY, which has retained 303 sailors. Twenty sailors are nominated for EMPLOY each week, Phillips said.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Sailors who can't deploy will be moved to empty jobs under Navy program
The Navy is implementing a program that will transfer non-deployable sailors to jobs that will keep them in the service long enough to return to duty rather than being separated on medical grounds. The new EMPLOY program will focus on sailor 'employability, not deployability,' by filling empty jobs with sailors who cannot deploy and reducing the number of sailors separated from the service through the Disability Evaluation System, according to a Naval admin notice posted Monday. 'EMPLOY accomplishes multiple important objectives for the Navy: we keep sailors on their career track by providing them with meaningful assignments that match their skills, we fill critical gapped billets ashore, and as an organization we retain the valuable knowledge, skills and experience these sailors possess,' Navy spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Stuart Phillips told Task & Purpose. 'Everyone wins.' The EMPLOY program is designed to place sailors into already-funded billets that would otherwise remain vacant. These assignments last for at least 24 months and include non-deployable, land-based jobs. The Navy released formal instructions for the program this week but began a 'phased roll-out of the EMPLOY model last year,' to evaluate the program's effectiveness, Phillips said. In May 2024, the first sailor was approved for an EMPLOY program tour. To date, 850 Sailors have been considered for EMPLOY with 303 selected so far. An average of 20 sailors are nominated each week, according to Phillips. The program is designed to retain sailors who are non-deployable due to injuries or illnesses, but who are expected to eventually return to duty. Sailors who are 'medically incapable of continued service' are not eligible for the program, according to a Navy factsheet. For example, sailors recovering from a musculoskeletal injury that will eventually heal, or who are undergoing treatment for cancer, could be eligible for the EMPLOY program, Phillips said. The program could also be for sailors taking certain medications that make them non-deployable. Phillips gave the example of anticoagulant medications that prevent fatal blood clots but also increase the risk of uncontrolled bleeding 'which is even more dangerous on a deployed warship.' 'While sailors in these situations may not be suitable for a sea duty tour, they can continue to contribute from a shore billet,' Phillips said. EMPLOY is open to sailors on active duty and those in the Navy's Training and Administration of the Reserve program, in which Reserve officers are put on active duty to manage and train the service's Reserve Component. Sailors in specialized career fields that require special duty screenings, like submarine duty, will have to complete a screening and de-screening process before they can be considered for EMPLOY. The process begins with a sailor's medical provider, who nominates the sailor for the program. Their case is reviewed by officials, including a Medical Evaluation Board. Sailors can work with detailers to negotiate their current orders or they can look for new opportunities through the Senior Enlisted Marketplace. The jobs sailors can hold in the program include Type 1 and Type 6 duty stations. Type 1 stations are shore assignments at bases in the continental U.S., Hawaii and Alaska. Sailors are limited from leaving their station for more than 150 days per year, or attending schools that last 18 months or more. Type 6 duty stations are overseas and have similar limits for sailors not to be absent from their offices for more than 150 days each year. Examples of Type 6 can include overseas stations, like Naval Base Sigonella, Italy and some more-remote locations in the U.S., like Naval Air Station Key West, Florida. Sailors may be cross-rated or redesignated into a new career field if the new job requires it. They may also be issued a conditional enlistment contract if they don't have enough time left in their current one. The NAVADMIN recommends that they consult with career counselors on how these temporary jobs could affect future Navy opportunities within their job field or other non-traditional roles. However, sailors in the program are still eligible for promotion. The Navy has faced similar recruiting challenges to other services in recent years but changes to how it recruits new sailors and a revamp of its medical waiver process have led to improvements. In February, the service announced in a post on X that it was on track to meet its highest recruiting goal in over 20 years with more than 14,000 future sailors joining in the first four months of fiscal year 2025. In September 2023, the Government Accountability Office found that the Navy didn't have enough enlisted sailors to man its aircraft carriers, other surface ships, and attack submarines. As of November 2023, the Navy had 70,705 enlisted sailors, 16% fewer than the necessary 84,379 sailor billets. Sailors will be re-evaluated during their EMPLOY rotation and assessed as either fit for return to duty, a new EMPLOY assignment or referred to the disability system, or separated from the service. The Navy does not have any specific limits on how long a sailor could remain in the EMPLOY program. A Marine Corps reply-all email apocalypse has an incredible real-life ending Army shuts down its sole active-duty information operations command Army plans to close more than 20 base museums in major reduction Former Green Beret nominated to top Pentagon position to oversee special ops The Navy's new recruiting commercial puts the 'dirt wars' in the past
Western Telegraph
09-05-2025
- Business
- Western Telegraph
Pembrokeshire dog expert helping frontline teams in Moldova
Stuart Phillips, who specialises in this field with more than 20 years of experience, has spent the past several weeks working with Moldova Customs at strategic points like the Ukraine–Moldova and Moldova–Romania borders, as well as Chisinău International Airport. He helped to strengthen their frontline detection dog programme, working closely with Moldovan handlers. He worked together with them on improving their operational skills and increasing canine search capabilities. Mr Phillips is known for his work with detection dog teams around the globe. His prestigious dogs were even awarded the PDSA Order of Merit for their exceptional tobacco detection work. They were presented by Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh at the Tower of London in 2023. Mr Phillips said: "It's been a privilege to work alongside such motivated teams here. "The progress these handlers and dogs have made in a short space of time is a real credit to their dedication." His skills are required worldwide, thanks to his success in the UK supporting Trading Standards, police forces, and HMRC in combating organised crime involving illicit tobacco. Law enforcement agencies globally are keen to benefit from his knowledge.
Vox
07-05-2025
- Health
- Vox
You're being lied to about protein
is a deputy editor for Vox's Future Perfect section. Before joining Vox, she reported on factory farming for national outlets including the Guardian, the Intercept, and elsewhere. If you've spent any time on the internet over the last several years, you may have noticed the profusion of two closely linked trends — one very positive, the other its warped refraction. Many of us, the fitfluencers claim, aren't getting enough protein, the macronutrient that's essential to building muscle and pretty much anything else structural in the body. To get stronger, they say, you need to eat one gram of protein per pound of body weight per day (that would be 200 grams for the average American man, who weighs about 200 pounds), or maybe even more. If you're a woman, especially an older one, be sure to consume massive servings of protein after each workout, they insist. And if you'd prefer to avoid animal products for ethical reasons, too bad, because you definitely, they warn, shouldn't get all your protein from plants. For a long time, most of the nutrition advice taken as gospel in the online weightlifting world confused me because it was entirely at odds with my own experience. Although my trajectory can only speak for me, and shouldn't be interpreted as nutrition advice for anyone else, it bears mentioning that I can appreciate the importance of protein better than most: I'm highly active, both running and lifting weights. I've built plenty of muscle without tracking my protein intake, without ever consuming protein powder, and without eating any animal protein. (Of course, you should check with your own doctors before starting any new health or diet regimen.) One random, representative day last month, I counted up my protein and found I'd eaten about 90 grams — certainly less than the widely repeated 'golden rule' recommending one gram per pound of body weight, but more than enough for my needs. If you learn about strength training from internet gurus, though, you'd be forgiven for thinking that lifting weights is a waste of time unless you're also crushing implausible volumes of protein. It's a myth that's flat-out 'not true,' Stuart Phillips, a professor in the department of kinesiology at McMaster University in Canada, and one of the world's foremost experts on protein for muscle building, told me. 'It's baloney,' he said. 'But there's a generation, particularly young men, and now an increasing number of young women, who are absolutely brainwashed by what they hear online.' I'll get to what a saner, more evidence-based protein goal would look like in a moment. But first, I hear you asking, what's the harm in aiming for a nice round number for protein (like one gram per pound of weight), just to be extra safe? For one thing, Phillips pointed out, extreme protein intake recommendations can make exercise feel unattainable. If you think you have to force yourself to wolf down 200 grams to make any progress, why bother? It also promotes needless rigidity and reduces flexibility in our diets. An arguably greater concern is that protein mania pushes people to eat more animal products. While it's not very hard to get enough plant-based protein to maximize muscle growth (I actually get more protein than the average American woman, according to CDC data, without consuming any animal products) it does get harder to rely on plants when protein maximization becomes an end in itself. Plus, many people simply hear 'eat more protein' as 'eat meat.' And the meat industry (along with eggs and dairy) is, to put it plainly, a grievous moral tragedy that we should avoid encouraging people to give more money to without reason. It's also wrecking the environment, and from a public health perspective, most Americans (yes, even those who work out) would benefit from eating less of it and more fiber-rich plant-based proteins. Against this context, there is something downright diabolical about liftfluencers brain-poisoning their followers into thinking that beans are a bad source of protein. Processing Meat A newsletter analyzing how the meat and dairy industries impact everything around us. Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Nutrition is a topic liable to scramble even the most rational minds. There are so many variables you could optimize and over-optimize for. It's also very hard to study, because researchers need to look at associations between foods and health outcomes over entire lifetimes and untangle correlation from causation. It helps to keep in mind that two things can be true at once: Understanding your protein needs undoubtedly matters for physically active people, but sometimes it's best not to overthink it. Protein deficiency is vanishingly rare in the developed world, and you're likely already getting enough to be able to gain strength. You don't have to run on egg whites and chicken breast to be a swole hottie. How much protein do you need? Be cautious about both extremely low and extremely high recommendations. If you want to get into any sort of exercise, first, throw out the one gram of protein per pound of body weight rule, because it is fake. It's not entirely clear why that bit of bro science has caught on, though it's possible that it stems from a fatal misreading of the scientific literature. In any case, Phillips explained, for gaining muscle, the evidence indicates that the benefits of eating more protein top out at around 0.73 grams per pound of body weight per day (or 1.6 grams per kilogram, as it's notated in scientific papers, but for clarity's sake, I'll stick to grams per pound). Above that level, he said, 'the net gain is so small that for most normal people, you're not going to find' much difference. Nor do you have to fuss about hitting exactly 0.73 grams per pound of body weight, or creating a large buffer above it. It's an upper bound beyond which benefits tend to plateau, not a minimum. Eat below that level, and you'll still build muscle and see plenty of benefits from weightlifting because each incremental increase in protein only yields small gains in strength. Just doing the exercise is more important for gaining strength than piling on more protein. Phillips recommends that weightlifters aim for between 0.54 and 0.73 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day. Advanced lifters who have been training for years don't necessarily need more. For a 170-pound woman (about the national average), that range comes out to between 92 and 124 grams. Compared to the one-gram-per-pound benchmark, which would tell her to eat at least 170 grams, that's a difference of one to three servings of chicken breast, or two to three cups of plain Greek yogurt (cows suffer a lot for that!). What about if, like many Americans, you're not very physically active? What's the lower bound for protein intake? The long-accepted guideline, or recommended dietary allowance (RDA), for adults, is at least 0.36 grams per pound of body weight, or about 61 grams for a 170-pound person. Beyond that, no one really knows what the ideal level of protein consumption is, and Phillips emphasizes that the RDA should only be considered a minimum for preventing deficiency rather than an optimum (it should be noted, though, that the RDA is designed with some slack, so falling slightly below it doesn't mean you'll automatically become deficient). Some experts, including Phillips, believe protein intake guidelines should be higher. According to this school of thought, sedentary adults should eat closer to 0.45 grams of protein per pound of weight (25 percent more than the RDA), and older adults, who are more prone to muscle loss and impaired nutrient absorption, should get 0.54 grams per pound. Research on the benefits of higher protein intakes in older adults is mixed, however, as nutrition PhD Alice Callahan recently reported in the New York Times. Seniors have other, related health complications, like not eating enough overall, not getting physical activity, and social isolation. Muscle loss in older adults is 'mostly because they're sedentary,' Stanford nutrition professor Christopher Gardner told me. 'To say you could take this depressed, lonely person with lousy teeth and give them a protein powder, that sarcopenia [muscle loss] would go away is ridiculous.' Again, actually using your muscles is far and away the most effective way to keep and grow them. One surprising upshot of all this is that ideal protein intakes for sedentary people and active people may not be as far apart as you might think. Average people might benefit from exceeding the RDA for protein somewhat, while weightlifters, contrary to the meathead stereotype, don't need a massive amount more. Plant-based protein is great for you and great for the gainz For many, many years, I've been getting the most boring question there is in plant-based nutrition: Where do you get your protein? How to get 90 grams of protein from plants There are infinite ways to get lots of protein on a plant-based diet. Here's one way I did it: Breakfast: Oats (1/4 cup dry steel-cut, but regular rolled oats are totally fine) with 3/4 cup soy milk, walnuts, ground flaxseed, and a banana. 16 grams protein, 488 calories Lunch: Lentil soup (1/4 cup dry red lentils) with veggies, a tortilla, and an apple with 1/4 cup peanut butter. 32 grams protein, 776 calories Snack: A plum and a toasted tortilla with 2 tablespoons hummus. 5 grams protein, 200 calories Dinner: Braised tofu veggie stir-fry served with brown rice (about 1/3 cup dry). (Recipe here; I used both extra firm and super firm tofu and had half a block of tofu per serving. I also made some adaptations like adding bok choy and baking the tofu instead of frying it.) 38 grams protein, 757 calories Total: 91 grams protein, 2,221 calories (like I said, I'm an active girlie!) Virtually all whole foods have protein — not just those we think of as protein sources. But legumes are the most protein-dense plant foods, and I often have them at every meal of the day — soy milk in the morning and beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, or mock meats at lunch and dinner. One last tip: If you're going plant-based, supplementing vitamin B12 is a must because it isn't found in modern plant-based diets. It may also be a good idea if you're reducing animal products — talk to your doctor. It's boring because vegans and vegetarians have no problem meeting their protein needs. But in the field of sports nutrition, where demands on the body are especially great, it's taken some time for researchers to overcome the cultural bias against plant-based protein. 'Everything we have done where we've compared plant to animal [protein], we find that the difference falls within the margin of error,' according to Phillips, who says he's changed his mind about plant-based proteins over the years, after seeing evidence trickle in that it's just as good for muscle gain as animal protein. Just a few weeks ago, a beef industry-funded randomized control trial from researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign found no difference in muscle growth between lifters on vegan and omnivorous diets (participants in that study, by the way, ate 0.5 to 0.54 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily). If you're looking to reduce or eliminate animal products, which is something I'd encourage anyone to try to do, there are a few differences to keep in mind about plant protein. First, while some in the fitness space have perpetuated the idea that on a plant-based diet it's necessary to combine different foods with complementary amino acids at each meal to get 'complete' proteins, this is widely recognized as untrue, Gardner said. Instead, eating a variety of foods — legumes, grains, nuts, vegetables — throughout the day will deliver enough of each amino acid. (It's also not true that plant proteins lack certain amino acids, he said. Rather, all amino acids are present in all plant foods, but some in smaller quantities.) Second, our bodies absorb somewhat less of the protein from whole plant foods than from animal foods, which is something to be aware of, but it's not that much less — certainly not enough to make or break a workout routine. The absorption gap attenuates when eating plant foods that have undergone processing — like tofu, tempeh, soy milk, seitan, an Impossible burger, or plant-based protein powder — compared to whole beans and legumes. And although many plant protein sources, unlike meat, come packaged with carbs and fiber and therefore have less protein as a share of calories than animal foods, many vegans (myself included) would tell you that with some basic nutritional knowledge, they find it to be a piece of cake to consistently exceed the RDA for protein, and often double it, on plant foods alone. In recent years, Gardner told me, nutrition science's messaging has shifted away from an emphasis on specific nutrients ('protein good' or 'fat bad') and toward a focus on foods and dietary patterns. And one clear consensus in the field is that diets high in whole plant foods, including fiber- and protein-dense plants like beans, are very, very good for us, reducing our risk of diet-related chronic diseases and early death. Isn't that, after all, the whole point of exercise? Very few of us are going to become Olympians; far more people want to preserve our strength and vitality for our brief time on Earth. I can think of many better things to worry about than chasing rapidly diminishing returns in muscle growth. And we mere mortals, I'd argue, should count ourselves incredibly lucky that caring for our health, and caring for our planet and fellow animals, don't need to pull in opposite directions.
