I am a second year Nutrition student and have a question about protein and endurance athletes. Why are their protein requirements greater than they are for resistance athletes? Is it because the muscle glycogen stores get depleted over a long period of time with intense exercise? If so, should they consume more carbohydrates than resistance athletes, with a low glycemic index prior to their workout?

My soccer coach is suggesting we eat bananas at half-time of our soccer game to rebuild our energy for the second half. I understand that bananas are a very good source of energy, among other things. I don't see any detriment to this idea, but my question is this: Does the consumption of bananas result in an immediate energy boost? I have always been led to believe that food must be digested through the system before the body realizes the benefits, and that usually takes several hours. Can you enlighten me?

Is egg powder an effective egg substitute for protein?

I have researched health and nutrition online for a while now, and I work out not only with weights and yoga, but martial arts and mountain biking, as well.

Lately while researching online, I've found that a lot of nutritional value charts conflict in numbers. Some charts say that skim milk contains eight grams of protein, some charts say skim milk contains 13 grams of protein. Which charts are right?? This is incredibly frustrating and confusing. I did find out that there is nutrition software available, but it's so expensive and it comes with lots of extra things that only doctors need really, like making charts for patients and what not.

Also, I found information on one site saying that adults should consume 0.8 grams of protein per however many kilos you weigh (I weigh 82 kilos, so that means 66 grams of proteins per day). Another site said that adult females between 25 to 50 kilos just need 55 grams of proteins per day. Also, it's not just protein intake that conflicts with all of these charts online.

If you can help out at all, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.