How much protein in one sitting?

[WilliamDragon10]

Is there a limit of how much protein you can eat in one sitting with it all being used by your body effectively? Or could you hypothetically eat 50-100g in one sitting

 

[snowman]

Is there a limit of how much protein you can eat in one sitting with it all being used by your body effectively? Or could you hypothetically eat 50-100g in one sitting

Your body will absorb and use whatever you throw at it but the deal in terms of how much of it goes to muscle is a different story. What I've read in the past is that 20g to 40g of protein per meal is usually the sweet spot. Anything more than that still gets used just not all of it goes to building muscle. So it might get burned for energy or stored as fat if you’re over on calories. You can smash a big protein meal if you want, but splitting it into smaller meals throughout the day is smarter.

 

[YAT35Y]

Your body will absorb and use whatever you throw at it but the deal in terms of how much of it goes to muscle is a different story. What I've read in the past is that 20g to 40g of protein per meal is usually the sweet spot. Anything more than that still gets used just not all of it goes to building muscle. So it might get burned for energy or stored as fat if you’re over on calories. You can smash a big protein meal if you want, but splitting it into smaller meals throughout the day is smarter.

Yeah @snowman makes a good point in regard to what can actually be utilised by the body. In regard to calories in vs calories out, yeah you could take all your protein in one meal if you wanted

 

[ashdgee]

They say anything over 40g will not make much difference. But for me, all meals must each have a min of around 30g of protein

 

[cup]

for me i need to hit 60g in the mornin, and 40g 2 hours later. then around lunch 60g, and 2 hours later i need 40g, and dinner i need about 60g.

i'm a tall fella though and i need about 3g per 1kg.

 

[ChasetheCase]

Dr Mike had a good video on this. Our individual muscle protein synthesis limits how much protein we can effectively used for muscle repair, most people is up to ~40g. Having it all in one sitting leads to inefficient use of amino acids and can increase cortisol. Also smaller consistent loads throughout the day help with blood sugar control. You also want to make sure you have protein over night to stablise blood sugar and help reduce catabolism, studies have also shown it increases growth hormone.

I have 30g as soon as I wake up of whey, try and stick to a good diet throughout the day and then have 30g of casein before sleep. Plus an extra whey after training, and/or throw another one in if my lunch didn't have enough protein in.

 

[DC309]

That's interesting, I've just always tried to hit my goal regardless of when it came, except for making sure my first meal has 50g.
Might try and start splitting my meals up a bit, have a few smaller meals throughout the day

 

[SpoonT]

Pretty much the consensus I've seen is that, Making sure you are getting enough protien is more important than spreading it out. If it's easier to eart it all one lump, then that's better than not getting enough of it.

 

[ChasetheCase]

Pretty much the consensus I've seen is that, Making sure you are getting enough protien is more important than spreading it out. If it's easier to eart it all one lump, then that's better than not getting enough of it.

That's very true, those discussions are about not getting enough and spreading it out vs getting enough but in one sitting, but I guess on this forum we are all getting enough protein, so all the evidence shows is better to spread it out.

 

[SpoonT]

That's very true, those discussions are about not getting enough and spreading it out vs getting enough but in one sitting, but I guess on this forum we are all getting enough protein, so all the evidence shows is better to spread it out.

absolutely agree with that, but I don't think we need to worry about specific grams of protein at specific times, just throw it around across the day in a couple of spread out meals is good enough.

 

[ChasetheCase]

Yeah agree, the only thing I'm strict about is whey as soon as I wake up, and cassin just before I go to bed. The rest is just thrown in when I eat, or train. I think if you're natural trying to optimise everything you'll see some very small improvements, but I think for most of us on gear these incremental performance differences aren't worth the effort.

 

[trespassing_minds]

Does being on higher amounts of testosterone allow the body to process more protien per day?

I find higher protien meals always keep me feeling fuller for longer looking at myfitnesspal diary normally between 45 to 65g per meal

 

[ChasetheCase]

Higher testosterone levels increase the efficeincy your body can utilise protein due to higher muscle protein synthesis, rather than being oxidised for energy or excreted.

There's a few studies out there which look at protein and testosterone, summary findings:

• Natural lifters generally reach diminishing returns beyond 2.2g/kg
• Those on supraphysiological testosterone levels may benefit from 2.5–3.0g/kg, depending on training intensity and recovery needs
• Increased mucscle mass gives higher capacity for muscle protein synthesis

Phillips et al. (1999) - Protein Requirements in Steroid Users
Joubert & Manore (2006) - Anabolic Steroids and Nutrition
Helms et al. (2014) - Protein Intake in Strength Athletes

 

[snowman]

Does being on higher amounts of testosterone allow the body to process more protien per day?

I find higher protien meals always keep me feeling fuller for longer looking at myfitnesspal diary normally between 45 to 65g per meal

I found this study where it shows testosterone helps with muscle protein synthesis overall but doesn’t really dive into how much protein you handle per meal. It’s more about the general muscle growth boost.

https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/107/8/e3254/6582758