@ Joel Marion:
MD publishes main points from studies. Not the whole studies i know that.
Research is good and research is bad.
Research is good because it can teach us a LOT.
Research is bad because most people don’t understand how to take the results of a study and analyze beyond the study to see how it fits in the big picture.
Fortunately, I will help do both with regards to the below study.
So, a team of researchers sought out to discover some stuff about protein:
J Am Diet Assoc. 2009 Sep;109(9):1582-6.
A moderate serving of high-quality protein maximally stimulates skeletal muscle protein synthesis in young and elderly subjects.
Basically, they wanted to see if a 90 gram serving of protein (about the equivalent of 12 oz of grilled chicken breast) would elicit a greater muscle building response when compared to a 30 gram serving (approximately 4 oz of grilled chicken, beef, etc).
The answer: No.
The conclusion: Your body can utilize approximately 30 grams of protein for muscle building purposes at a time. Elite athletes and bodybuilders, perhaps a bit more.
So, does this mean that you should only eat 30 grams of protein per meal regardless of your calorie needs?
No.
There are other factors that should be considered when determining your protein intake, independent of how much of that protein is able to fuel the muscle building process.
What we can, however, learn from this study is a very general rule:
It’s best to spread your protein intake out throughout the day, ala 6 meals with smaller protein portions than 3 meals with larger portions, because yes, there seems to be an upper limit to the amount of protein that the body can use toward rebuilding or building muscle at any one time.
Now, that number could certainly change based on whether the group was participating in regular, intense resistance training — I’m betting the amount would go up. Perhaps 40 grams on average…maybe more.
Either way, you’re probably going to get better results by splitting it up over the course of the day.
Later this week, I’ll be back to answer the question “How much protein do I actually need anyway?”
And I think you’ll be surprised by the answer.
If you’d like to see that article, do two things for me:
1) Hit the Facebook “Like” button below, then…
2) Leave a comment in the comments section
At least 100 comments and I’ll be back later in the week with the “How much protein do I really need?” article.
Talk to you in the comments section!
Joel
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I’ll be interested in what you have to say. I’m a nutrition science student at Kaplan U and just went through protein requirements last week. You’re right, I was surprised!
Dear Joel. I like your scientific accuracy. What you are reporting in this post is what I have always read about but we all ever have doubts so it is very interesting to know about the last research and you can help us to do so. Thanks for all and be kind about my English. Javier from Spain.
very interesting article looken forward to the next aricle on protein
This is an area of so much debate, and there still are many who say that too much protein will cause kidney problems. I’m glad you are addressing it here, and YES I want to hear the rest of the story. After completing your XTREME Fat loss diet once (With great success) and now using it again, I completely trust your comments, because I know what you say works. Thanks Joel, Kevin
As an overweight older lady, I’m interested in dropping more than just a few pounds but do want to maintain muscle mass and tone. As such I expect the amount of protein usable by my body will be an important part of achieving my goal.
I am definitely interested in hearing the rest of the story because I have questioned several times what the threshold level is for protein intake.
Hi
In a program about body building it was said Arnold S. would eat 36 raw eggs a day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! is this relevant???????????????
It’s hard to get in so much protein. I know too much protein is just wasted. So waiting to hear about the recommendation for protein requirements!
Glad to know you can absorb 30-40 grams at a time — I’d always heard it was 20.
I’ve had only one person with an opinion on this tell me that our bodies simply can’t use more than 40 grams from a meal. That is, any more than that at a sitting and the rest goes to waste, or in fact is hard on your body due to extra processing by kidneys, liver, etc… to get rid of it.
One other person tried to tell me that the American diet is too high in protein, tells me we get “too much” protein. I don’t believe that really.
And then, of course, I’ve heard the common opinion that we need 1g protein for every pound of lean tissue, other people have said 1g for every pound, period. Body builders trying to bulk up have said 2g per pound of lean tissue.
I’m not saying I’m confused, but I don’t really want another “opinion”. So when you do your next post, can you really get into the science behind it? I’d like to know, how much, when, maximum, how it’s processed, how “extra” is dealt with, etc…
Thanks!
I am just curious to know how much protein is required to have on a daily basis for someone who weighs 141 pounds and is 5’3 to lose weight. I work out with weights 4 days per week and cardio 5 days per week. Always hungry always always craving sugar!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi,
High protein, low-carb diets have worked wonders for me over the years. I feel satisfied longer and have fewer sugar cravings but I’ve always worried about too much of a good thing being bad. With the high cost of meat and fish I’m really looking forward to reading your next article.
love the emails, keep’em coming. always interesting in learning new things!
40 maybe 50
Great info and in line with everything I’ve learned. I’m definitely interested in the rest of the story!
@ Garfield:
This has no relevance. Unless you are some freakish, juiced up animal in the gym like he was, there is no relevance in taking in 36 eggs a day..
Three to four eggs per day would be enough, combined with plenty of vegetables and lean meat/fish is all you need to consume.
I never know how much protein to eat…some say it’s good to go higher on the protein, some say not. I am petite woman so I think I need less protein a taller woman or a man.
I’ve always thought that if I’m @ 105 pounds then I have to eat at least 105 to 110 grams of protein a day? I’m really not sure about that though. It’ll be good to find out what the real number should be.
I was wondering if you’d absorb more protein immediately following an intense resistance workout… I typically take 40-50g of (1.5 – 2.0 70cc scoops) whey protein right after the workout, followed by another about 75 min later, followed by another another 75 min or so after that.
Absolutely want to see the protein info!
Well of course I’m going to leave a comment because I must have the rest of the article. I am a frequent victim of information overload. I’m always sabotaging myself because it gets really hard to put it all together.
Thank you very much Joel you’ve have been very helpful for helping me getting my goals. Keep working for the people who appreciate and need your job, thank you. Now, about the protein I think that is the better way to eat protein, I mean throughout the day in correct portions. See your e-mails.
Thanks for the info , is very interesting known the proper amount of protein the body can utilize at a time
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Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...