How Much Protein in One Meal
Brad,
I’m following your recommend information on how much protein to build muscle along with an “intense” enough work out program. It is working well for me, but a couple questions loom in my mind. I’ve read in articles on the internet that a person cannot “absorb” more than 30 grams of protein in one meal. Is this true? If it is true, does this mean if I ate the recommended daily intake of protein to build muscle in one meal, I wouldn’t be meeting your recommended requirement? I don’t consume that much protein in one meal, but I am curious to know if I eat a meal with 40g does the 10 grams go to “waste”?
Thanks, Jeremy
Hi Jeremy,
There is strong scientific evidence showing that you are able to adapt to the amount of protein you ingest. Meaning, as you eat more (or less) protein your digestive system learns to ‘digest and assimilate’ more (or less) protein at a given time or meal.
This means whether it’s over a 24 hour period or in one single meal, you will learn to utilize the amount of protein you provide to your body, as long as this new intake is consistent.
Of course, this also means you will learn to oxidize any surplus protein (basically use any protein you aren’t using for building new tissues as a fuel). All that extra protein isn’t simply turning into tons of new muscle (I wish it was that easy).
BP
PS – If you are interest in a more in depth answer to how much protein you need to build muscle, visit How Much Protein
Most Commented Posts
-
[...] Original post by Brad Pilon [...]
I’ve read about this as well back in my bodybuilding days. From personal experience I’ve noticed the extra protein doesn’t necessarily jive with my digestive system and tends to be passed on through my body as extra gas.
Just something to keep in mind as your body readjusts to the additional protein.
Hi Brad,
This is interesting. I’ve recently dove head first into nutrition, and I’ve learned about the benefits of balancing your proteins, fats, and carbs. I also know the impact of excessive carbs, however I’m not quite sure what happens when someone takes in too much protein at a cellular level (i.e. excess glucagon)? Does it pass into the bloodstream as tryglycierides like insulin (induced by carbs) does?
Brad, have a look at this article. It seems to contradict some of your findings:
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-protein
It doesn’t really contradict me. It actually proves my point.
Well, specifically it proves the points in How Much Protein.
B
One thing I’ve been wondering in all of this is – while it may mainly matter how many calories you eat rather than what foods they come from, couldn’t it be true that eating certain kinds of foods will help you eat fewer calories by making you less hungry? For instance, even if I could get all the protein I need in a day just from grains, would they really satisfy my appetite enough for long enough to allow me to maintain a low enough caloric intake comfortably?
Cecile,
It’s a good point, however it still falls under the argument of simply calories. The food are the vehicle (as you pointed out) but the result is still the calorie balance.
B
Brad,
Fantastic analysis documented very well. I am also an academic, so I appreciate the chain of references you provide in support of your positions throughout all your materials. You establish and support your points so clearly that I am pretty much convinced about the health benefits of periodic fasting in addition to ‘just’ the caloric restriction. Having said that, I do have a couple of questions I am hoping you can answer for me.
To begin, as you mention numerous times, one of the benefits of ESE is that you can follow any type of diet guidelines you choose in concert with ESE. I was/am following a low-carb plan before I came across ESE, and I find that the combination of these two seems to be working very well together (so far, I am losing at about 4 lbs./week). As you know, Atkins, et al., emphasize ketosis and the production and burning of ketones as the main rationale for maintaining low carb counts. So:
1) Are ketones the “free fatty acids” you refer to so often?
2) In the Advanced Transcripts, you do obliquely refer to low-carb/high-protein diets, but primarily in the context that the claims that high protein intake is beneficial because it stokes the metabolic furnace are false – or at least that the metabolic gains from higher protein do not amount to very much. However it seems to me that your research supports the idea that carb restriction to the point of ketosis would be beneficial in terms of fat burning because even though the metabolism may not be boosted all that much, at least the calories being burned during ketosis are necessarily from oxidizing body fat, just not induced by fasting. This seems to me a fitting explanation for why and how my fat loss is double the 1-2 pounds per week you suggest as plausible from ESE. If this is the case, I am also curious about the role of growth hormone (GH) in this process, as from your research it is not clear that GH would be activated in lieu of fasting. So is ketosis a non-GH induced beta oxidation process?
At any rate, my plan is to keep on with the low carb thing (averaging around 40-50 g carbs a day) in concert with ESE for this first couple of months or so, and then transitioning to just ESE when the low carb thing gets old. I figure by about then my gains from low carbing will have begun to decrease at an increasing rate anyways, and it is nice to know that I will not have to keep up that style of eating indefinitely – just until I don’t feel like doing it anymore.
Finally, would it be too strong to conceptualize the 24 hour fasting period as literally like exercising for 24 hours straight (minus the muscle-catabolizing and building effects, of course)?
Thanks in advance, you have really put together an amazingly strong package…
Shea
I’m pretty sure your body adapts to change just like muscle growth. I like to keep things simple and remember that your bodies respond as part of our natural defense system. We build muscle to defend ourselfs and digest more to help repair our mucles.
Just my 2c