We’ve all heard this before I am pretty sure; You Can’t Absorb More than 30 Grams of Protein at Once. Right? I wish this would go away forever. It seems to be unkillable though.
I’m pretty sure some wannabe nutritionist or gym bro made this shit up to further the myth that you need to eat every 3 hours. Which is also bullshit.
Today I will dispel the myth of You Can’t Absorb More than 30 Grams of Protein at Once, and tell stories as I like to do.
Before I go and give you scientific data on this, let me say that I am not going to list a bunch of references because there are a SHITLOAD of them available with a simple Googling. But for those who must have a study referenced to validate what is typically a common sense answer, here is ONE.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5828430/
To make it easy to understand, and if you hate reading studies I’ll ‘splain it. This is the most important (IMO) sentence in the abstract:
“Based on the current evidence, we conclude that to maximize anabolism one should consume protein at a target intake of 0.4 g/kg/meal across a minimum of four meals in order to reach a minimum of 1.6 g/kg/day. Using the upper daily intake of 2.2 g/kg/day reported in the literature spread out over the same four meals would necessitate a maximum of 0.55 g/kg/meal.”
In meathead terms, it says that if you weigh 200 Freedom Units (pounds) or 91 kilos, you need to consume .4 grams of protein per kilo of weight per meal.
that looks like this:
- 200 pounds=91 kilos
- .4 grams of protein/91=36.4 grams over 4 meal
- .55 grams of protein/91-50 grams over 4 meals at the upper limit of this study
So, this is real research that shows that the statement You Can’t Absorb More than 30 Grams of Protein at Once is wrong.
And if you don't weigh 200 pounds, you still can eat AS MUCH protein as you want at one meal. Your body will use it. Just don't eat too may calories or it gets stored as fat. However, protein is harder to store as fat than carbs, alcohol or fat, so it is the one to overeat on if you choose to.
Which leads into my first story.
Several decades ago at Gold’s Gym in Everett Mass, I was at the Juice Bar and I asked the girl for an extra scoop of protein in my shake and I would happily pay for it. This turned into a thing. I don’t know why.
If you work in the service industry and someone asks for something that you CAN do, just do it. You’ll get a bigger tip.
But I digress. She started this diatribe about how your body cannot absorb more than 30 grams of protein at once, and she was in college and was taking health classes and blah ditty blah blah. I listened and asked if she could just add the extra scoop and charge me.
This was not good enough as she continued and I ended up replying back with something like this:
- Me: OK, common sense would dictate that my body at 300 pounds can absorb and assimilate more protein at one sitting than your body (she was about 125 pounds).
- Her: Yes.
- Me: So are you saying that you cannot absorb 30 grams of protein at one sitting?
- Her: RRREEEEEE I never said that.
- Me: Can we agree that at 300 pounds I have a greater ability to digest and absorb nutrients based on body mass alone?
- Her: Yes
- Me: Can I just get the extra scoop please?
This is the common sense angle.
The scientific angle is above that.
Your ability to absorb and assimilate protein is based on your body weight and the amount of muscle you have, and how hard you strength train. Yes, strength training does place an additional demand on the body for protein.
This is because exercise stimulates both muscle protein synthesis and breakdown of protein. But if you eat enough protein, you will not see as much breakdown (or loss to the layman). This means that protein builds muscle.
Now for my next story.
I’ve been preaching, typing, emailing, screaming that we need to eat at least one gram of protein per pound of body weight for optimal results. To my clients, my readers here and on my newsletter, and anyone who asks.
Funny thing, most of the people I preach to, don’t do it.
But the ones that do get better, faster results in:
- Fat Loss
- Muscle Gain
- Recovery
- PR’s
- Awesomeness
I have a friend who has been training here for about 20 years and we have a very similar conversation frequently because she is not losing fat and gaining muscle at the rate she would like.
It always comes down to “what is your protein intake?”
You can guess the answer. It’s not one gram per pound.
She even hit me with the You Can’t Absorb More than 30 Grams of Protein at Once sentence the other day. And I said I wish that would just go away. Because it isn’t true. I explained it again (I’ve done it before many times) and gave some advice.
Guess what?
She followed it and had a very positive body comp scan with no other changes to her fitness plan. She increased protein intake to about one gram per pound and lost a few pounds of fat in only one month.
Imagine if she did this 15 or 20 years ago?
I hope that I have dispelled the You Can’t Absorb More than 30 Grams of Protein at Once myth once and for all.
If not, leave a comment and I’ll ‘splain more.
Happy Memorial Day
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Vincere vel mori
C.J. Murphy
May 23, 2024