HOW MUCH PROTEIN DOES THE BODY ASSIMILATE?

In this article we are going to answer one of the main questions that gym regulars have about protein: how to distribute it during the day to obtain the maximum benefits. Go for it.

KEY POINTS

1.The body has a virtually unlimited ability to absorb calories and nutrients. That includes protein, of course.

two.The fact that a very high amount of protein can be absorbed does not mean that it will be used to build muscle mass efficiently

3.If you want to know the optimal distribution with the evidence we have, read on.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

*PREVIOUS ANNOTATIONS

*BASE PROBLEM

*RESOLVING THE DOUBT

*LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

*SUMMARIZING

PREVIOUS ANNOTATIONS

Before starting with the subject in question I would like to clarify a series of things that I think are essential before continuing. In a very schematic way.

1.  Regardless of the number of meals that seem to be optimal and the maximum protein per sitting that our body can take advantage of to maximize protein synthesis… don't be fooled. The most important thing is and will continue to be the total protein per day. If you have not yet read my article on CLEAR PRIORITIES , I highly recommend it as it is one of the most important articles on the blog and a must-have before moving on to more advanced topics such as the amount of protein per sitting.
2. Speaking of total protein remember that many people in the world are hoping you believe that you need a lot more protein than you actually need, because part of the money they make comes from promoting protein supplements. Therefore, it is very lucrative for all these individuals to put into their heads the need and the fear that you need an exorbitant amount of protein daily, and that if you do not reach that you will be losing all your muscle mass, because in that context it is a lot easier to end up turning to shakes and supplements to cover that ridiculous amount. And that's when all these people get their share of having created a need for you that didn't exist in the first place.
3. Remember, the amount needed to build muscle mass in a caloric surplus is 1.6-2.2 grams / kg of daily weight. It's not that much protein. And if you are in a caloric deficit, it may be advisable to increase that amount slightly, reaching a maximum of 2.7 grams / kg of weight. I repeat, it is not so much protein, and certainly much less than what people usually believe. Consuming more protein than necessary is not only useless, but you will be losing money (protein is expensive), you will be displacing the consumption of other much more interesting nutrients in that context (mainly fats and carbohydrates) and even an excessive consumption of protein can lead to a decrease in testosterone levels, both free and total .

BASE PROBLEM

Another issue that I think needs to be resolved before proceeding is the misconception that many people have when we talk about the question at hand. I explain.

Many people ask "how much protein our body can absorb in one sitting", when what they really want to ask is "how much protein in one sitting can our body use to synthesize muscle or use it for hypertrophy."

It is important to note this, because the second question is what matters, while the first (and what most people ask) is easy to answer. All. The body has a virtually unlimited ability to absorb nutrients and calories. That is, you can absorb a lot of protein per sitting without problem; Another thing is that it is the most optimal to maximize muscle growth.

However, if you weren't able to absorb more than 20 grams (a number that many people believe is the absorption limit and which coincidentally is similar to the protein in a scoop of whey protein) each time you ate more of those 20 grams at once you would have a tremendous decomposition and go straight to the bathroom.

That is not the case. Why? Well, because our body can absorb practically everything you throw at it. You have to spend a lot so that your body is not able to absorb something you have eaten. I am talking about several thousand calories. It is also necessary to reflect on whether it makes evolutionary sense that the body is unable to absorb such a small amount of protein per sitting. Probably not, since if this is the case, it is most likely that we weren't here, me writing this article and you reading it. We would have become extinct as useless (physiologically speaking, of course).

I hope this point is already clear.

RESOLVING THE DOUBT

Once we have all of the above clear, we will resolve the question that concerns us. What is the limit of protein per sitting that our body can use to build muscle mass?

The amount of protein we are looking for is based primarily on the optimal amount of leucine needed to stimulate muscle growth. We know today that leucine is the main amino acid that regulates the mTOR pathway, which is responsible for muscle growth, so ensuring that there is enough leucine in each meal becomes a priority to optimize results.

Be very careful, as now we can fall into the trap of thinking that we have to consume leucine on failure to maximize muscle gains. Nothing is further from reality. There comes a point where more leucine is not needed and consuming more is simply redundant.

How much leucine is necessary? About 2.5-3 grams per sitting, although some studies have found that 1.8 grams is sufficient to maximize protein synthesis. To be safe, we will move in the range of 2-3 grams per meal. And knowing this, we are going to transfer it to the total amount of protein per sitting, which is the question we want to solve.

For this we are going to refer to a review carried out by Alan Aragon and Brad Schoenfeld on this same topic in February 2018 and which concluded the following:

Based on the available evidence we conclude that to maximize anabolism one should consume protein in a range of 0.4 g / kg / meal spread over a minimum of 4 meals to reach the recommended minimum of 1.6 g / kg / day. Using the highest range of 2.2 g / kg / day of protein and dividing it into the same amount of meals we would need 0.55 g / kg / meal.

That is, assuming an approximate weight range of 70-90kg for a healthy adult male and 48-68kg for a healthy adult woman, we would have the following approximate ranges of protein per sitting:

MEN : 28-39 grams of protein per meal in the low weight range and 36-50 in the high range, depending on the total amount of protein that is established.
WOMEN : 20-26 grams of protein per meal in the low weight range and 27-37 in the high weight range.

Obviously if we weigh more or less we will have to adapt the quantities. We are talking about very general numbers. With that amount of protein per sitting and with 4 daily intakes, in view of the available evidence, protein synthesis is maximized, since in each meal there will be enough leucine to activate the mTOR pathway.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Despite this, there are some limitations in it, which Menno Henselmans comments on his website very correctly and that I will limit myself to sharing with you.

1. Most of the studies included in the aforementioned review use Whey as the main source of protein. This has an important bias since whey protein has a very high absorption rate that is not representative when compared to other foods rich in protein. For example, 70 grams of beef protein had a greater anabolic response and stimulated protein synthesis more than 40 grams of beef.
2. A previous fast enhances the anabolic response of the subsequent meal, so it is possible that after a fast the aforementioned limit increases.
3. The more muscle mass we train, the greater the capacity for growth our body has and therefore the greater amount of protein our body can take advantage of. In other words, a torso or full body workout will likely increase our ability to synthesize muscle mass much more than a bicep workout. An extra point in favor of routines that provide more frequency and train more muscles per session.

It is also important to note that there are a significant number of studies that observe that reducing the frequency of meals from 7-6 to 2-3 a day does not have an effect on the retention of muscle mass or on the loss of fat. We are talking about studies done in people in deficit.

Hence , intermittent fasting , as well as its more popular variant " Lean Gains " are very valuable tools when it comes to carrying out a satisfactory definition. However, this cannot be applied to cases of volume or caloric surplus in trained people, since unfortunately there are no studies of these characteristics.

SUMMARIZING

• The body has a virtually unlimited ability to absorb calories and nutrients.
• The fact that a very high amount of protein can be absorbed does not mean that it will be used to build muscle mass efficiently
• In view of the current evidence it appears that 3-4 meals of between 30-50 grams of protein each in men and 20-40 grams in women seems to be a good way to proceed and optimize results.
• In deficit, however, it has been seen that going down to even 2 meals a day as long as enough protein is consumed per day has no detrimental effects on retaining muscle mass or losing body fat.
• Which brings us to the most important point, your priority should be getting enough protein each day. With this we ensure an 8/10. If we want to get to 10/10, follow the instructions in this article.