How Much Protein Should I Have in a Meal?
November 3, 2021
How Much Protein Can we have in a Meal?
Like many, I too was taught that you could only utilise 30 grams of protein at one time. That any extra protein over this 30 grams was a waste and you’d be flushing it down the toilet.
Is this actually correct though?
The recommendation that a maximum of 30 grams of Protein in one meal comes from a study that was looking at muscle protein synthesis. In this study, it was found that eating more than 30 grams of protein does not result in additional muscle-building benefits.
And this is where the suggestion of any more than 30 grams of protein is a waste. This idea is still current today, the majority of fitness professionals are still giving this advice. I was amongst them until recently.
Here is an important thing to consider though. More than 50 percent of protein synthesis occurs outside of muscle, which means Muscle Protein Synthesis isn’t necessarily indicative of whole-body protein synthesis.
What does all this mean though?
There is no real reason to be worried about wasting protein, while eating 60 grams of protein in a meal is no better for building muscle than 30 grams the “extra protein” can still be utilised in whole-body protein synthesis. Not just in the muscles, also in hair, fingernails, the gut, etc.
We must remember the function of protein. Protein is the building blocks for the body. There are loads of organisms that rely on protein in the body, not just muscles. This is where the extra protein can be of benefit.
How can this change how you eat?
Getting protein in every meal is super important. To grow muscle a person needs 1.5-2.2 grams of protein per kg of bodyweight. For example, an 80kg male needs around 160 grams of protein per day. If this is broken up to 30 grams per meal (as traditionally taught) then this person would need 5 and a bit meals per day. However, the bottom line is if you want to eat more protein at fewer meals, you don’t need to worry that you won’t utilise all that protein, or that you’ll be limiting your gains. As it isn’t the protein per meal that matters most, it is your protein net balance that is most important.
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How Much Protein Should I Have in a Meal?
November 3, 2021
How Much Protein Can we have in a Meal?
Like many, I too was taught that you could only utilise 30 grams of protein at one time. That any extra protein over this 30 grams was a waste and you’d be flushing it down the toilet.
Is this actually correct though?
The recommendation that a maximum of 30 grams of Protein in one meal comes from a study that was looking at muscle protein synthesis. In this study, it was found that eating more than 30 grams of protein does not result in additional muscle-building benefits.
And this is where the suggestion of any more than 30 grams of protein is a waste. This idea is still current today, the majority of fitness professionals are still giving this advice. I was amongst them until recently.
Here is an important thing to consider though. More than 50 percent of protein synthesis occurs outside of muscle, which means Muscle Protein Synthesis isn’t necessarily indicative of whole-body protein synthesis.
What does all this mean though?
There is no real reason to be worried about wasting protein, while eating 60 grams of protein in a meal is no better for building muscle than 30 grams the “extra protein” can still be utilised in whole-body protein synthesis. Not just in the muscles, also in hair, fingernails, the gut, etc.
We must remember the function of protein. Protein is the building blocks for the body. There are loads of organisms that rely on protein in the body, not just muscles. This is where the extra protein can be of benefit.
How can this change how you eat?
Getting protein in every meal is super important. To grow muscle a person needs 1.5-2.2 grams of protein per kg of bodyweight. For example, an 80kg male needs around 160 grams of protein per day. If this is broken up to 30 grams per meal (as traditionally taught) then this person would need 5 and a bit meals per day. However, the bottom line is if you want to eat more protein at fewer meals, you don’t need to worry that you won’t utilise all that protein, or that you’ll be limiting your gains. As it isn’t the protein per meal that matters most, it is your protein net balance that is most important.
