How much protein to take in one meal?

We recently looked at how much protein we really need. Today, we're going to look at how much we can get in one meal.

Breaking down the "speed limit" for protein

One of the oldest "truths" of bodybuilding is that you can't absorb more than 20-25g of protein in a single serving. From this belief was born perhaps the oldest habit of bodybuilding, eating 6 or more meals a day.

How this belief originated is a mystery. No one has ever been able to find a scientific explanation for this restriction. Bodybuilders, however, have adhered to it since time immemorial.

What exactly did people think would happen if they ingested more than 25g of protein? That it would become protein bricks that would be eliminated? Yeah, that's how you make Lego. In a few years, you'll be able to build your own death star out of it.

The explanations have simply never been very plausible. Now, hopefully, with the help of T-nation writers Brad Schoenfeld and Alan Aragon, we can break through that mythical barrier.

New single meal recommendations

Their new study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition is the result of research on protein utilization. In the study, the men state that athletes who want to maximize protein synthesis should eat 0.4g of protein per 1kg of body weight in each meal and divide this into a minimum of 4 meals, aiming for a total of at least 1.6g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. Athletes who want to go all out should even add up to 0.55g/kg of weight in each meal, which would push the daily intake up to 2.2g/kg of weight. So again, this would be split into 4 meals per day.

So for a 90kg man that would be:

• Minimum requirement (0.4 g/kg/meal): 36 g protein in each meal.
• Maximum requirement (0.55 g/kg/meal): 50 g protein in each meal.

What the research has shown

Schoenfeld and Aragon point out that "absorption" describes the mere movement of nutrients from the digestive tract into the systemic circulation. According to this definition, "the amount of protein that can be absorbed is almost unlimited."

Scientists in the past believed that anything above that 20-25g limit would be oxidized or converted into other substances.

Schoenfeld and Aragon attribute a different fate to "excess" protein. After digestion of food, amino acids are transported by specialized cells into the portal circulation, and those not taken up by the liver enter the bloodstream where they are available for whatever tissue wants them.

These two scientists recognize, of course, that at a certain amount of ingested protein, oxidation begins to occur, but this is certainly not the fate of all amino acids ingested in excess.

How to use this information

To recap, Schoenfeld and Aragon found that "it is relatively easy and elegant to consume protein with a target of 0.4g/kg/meal, and to do so in at least 4 meals per day..."

And if one insists on the theory that athletes need up to 2.2g of protein per kilo of body weight, the dose would be 0.55g/kg/meal.

Let's assume your goal is 1.6g per kilo of weight per day. The math would look like this:

• A 70kg athlete would eat about 27g of protein in just one meal and a total of 4 meals per day.
• An 80kg athlete would eat about 31g of protein in just a meal and a total of 4 meals a day.
• A 90kg athlete would eat about 36g of protein in just a meal and a total of 4 meals a day.
• A 100kg athlete would eat about 41g of protein in just a meal and a total of 4 meals a day.

Schoenfeld and Aragon don't specify exactly how athletes should achieve such high amounts of protein, but without the use of a quality protein powder it seems impossible.

Source: www.t-nation.com - Brad Jon Schoenfeld and Alan Albert Aragon, "How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution," International Journal of Sports Nutrition, 2018, 15:10. Author .