In sports clubs there is an opinion that: “Only 30 grams of protein are absorbed at a time, no more is absorbed”... Sometimes they talk about 35 grams or 40...
I often hear such statements and see them on the Internet.
However, if you ask in more detail:
Why exactly is it not absorbed? Why exactly 30 grams, why not 33?
After these questions, the answer is something incomprehensible...
I’m already silent about the fact that people who say this often have no idea at all about the digestive system and protein metabolism in the body.
So, let's analyze this protein myth
1.
Let's compare a person with a height of 165 cm and a weight of 55 kg and a person with a height of 190 cm/105 kg. Do they have the same blood volume, the same muscle mass, the same intestinal and liver sizes... or are they different?
Now suppose that one plays sports and has an increased demand for proteins in his muscle cells, and the other has a sedentary lifestyle... Do you feel a hint?
Where, in this case, did the even, uniform value of 30 grams come from?
2.
Digestion and assimilation of proteins, and any other substances, are complex multi-stage processes involving hormones, enzymes and many body systems.
When you eat, your digestive system begins to work actively and gradually digests and assimilates almost any amount of food you eat (hence the problem of obesity).
Of course, if you are so full that you cannot move, then it is difficult for the body to digest such an amount of food at once, but this is the other extreme. You can fill your stomach until you’re sick... I don’t consider senile situations
To increase muscle mass, and generally for health, you need to eat well, but evenly. Distribute meals into 4-5 meals throughout the day.
The quality of food absorption will depend on the quality of the food, the method of preparation, your health and the state of the body at the moment.
3.
Now about the proteins themselves. After all, they do not enter the blood instantly; first they need to be “digested,” that is, broken down into amino acids, and this takes time. That is, proteins are absorbed gradually, and the speed of digestion depends on the type of protein and the foods you eat.
Even if you take 50 grams of “pure” protein in the form of sports nutrition, it will be absorbed gradually over several hours. And what can we say about normal foods - meat, cottage cheese, eggs, cereals, they take even longer to digest.
The process of digestion and absorption of proteins is a multi-hour process that occurs not only in the stomach, but throughout the intestines.
This means that when you eat a new food, the digestion and absorption of proteins from the previous meal are still ongoing in the intestines - and this is a normal situation. You just never thought about it and, in general, you don’t need to worry about it….
What does it mean, in this case, “30 grams at a time”? This is a very conditional and vague concept - there is no “one time”. All proteins taken are digested and absorbed gradually over a long period of time.
By the way, it happens that milk is poorly digested, but this is not related to protein, the reason is different - some adults do not digest the milk sugar “lactose”.
A few examples from an athlete’s diet:
Buckwheat 100g. (by weight of dry product) – 12.6 g. squirrel
Chicken breasts 200 gr. – 43 gr. squirrel
TOTAL – 55.6 g. squirrel. And that's not even counting the fruits and vegetable salad.
Rice 100g. (by weight of dry product) – 7 g. squirrel
Boiled fish, for example, cod 200g. – 35.4 g. squirrel
Three-egg scrambled eggs (1 egg approx. 55 g) – about 21 g. squirrel
TOTAL – 63.4 g. squirrel
CONCLUSION
From my point of view, the statement “30 grams of protein is absorbed at a time” is not a scientific fact, but a folk myth. Everything is perfectly digestible, that’s what the digestive system is for! Naturally, if there are no diseases.
Eat varied, well and evenly. Don't eat until your stomach hurts.
During heavy physical activity, the body needs increased amounts of proteins. For example, I eat 400 grams. low-fat cottage cheese (protein content 18g per 100g of cottage cheese) you get 72 grams of protein... and everything is perfectly digestible. At the same time, I eat natural foods and don’t bother with nonsense about “30 grams at a time”...
The consumption of protein foods may be limited in some diseases, such as kidney disease. If you have any serious health conditions, please consult your doctor first.
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Zozhnik found out whether we can eat more than 30 grams of protein per meal and not worry about more of this nutrient going into fat stores or the toilet.
Most fitness enthusiasts believe that our bodies can only absorb 30 grams of protein per meal.
The recommendation to eat no more than 20-30 grams of protein at a time makes life difficult for many exercisers, because in order to keep their muscles in an anabolic state for as long as possible, these people break their daily protein needs into 5-6 meals.
What does science think about this? Can we eat a big beef steak without worrying that a significant portion of the protein it contains will end up in the toilet? In his article about the limit of protein that our body can absorb in 1 meal, fitness expert Alan Aragon compares the results of short-term and long-term studies. But first, the specialist suggests considering the issue of protein absorption, guided by logic.
The body's ability to absorb protein varies from person to person primarily due to varying amounts of muscle mass. The protein needs of a 70kg athlete will be significantly different from those of a 100kg athlete, and that's obvious.
Additionally, Aragon gives a simple example:
“Let’s imagine two people weighing 90 kg who consume 150 grams of protein per day. In this case, the first of them consumes 150 g of protein, distributing it evenly over 5 meals, that is, 30 g at a time. The second person consumes the same 150 g of protein, but in one meal.
If our body were able to absorb no more than 30 g of protein at a time, in this case the second person would experience a protein deficiency, because out of 150 g his body would absorb a maximum of 30 g of protein. Under such conditions, he would consume only 0.33 g of protein per 1 kg of body weight per day, which is only a third of the recommended norm (RDA)».
However, the human body is a very smart system that people underestimate. Our body always takes its toll and can digest quite a large amount of food. Otherwise, the human species would have disappeared long ago. In the example above, the first person will have shorter digestive periods during which his body will digest and absorb the protein. The second person, due to the volume of the protein portion, will have a longer period of digestion and absorption.
As Aragon notes, despite the above arguments, logical conclusions alone do not make it possible to come to a clear conclusion. Let's turn to scientific data.
It is not necessary to distribute the proteins evenly throughout the day. A reasonable approach is enough: just eat enough of them per day and without fanaticism with scales and watches.
Most advocates of consuming 20 grams of protein per meal argue that this is the amount of protein that provides the maximum anabolic effect. These people refer to data from an experiment by scientists Moore and Robinson, during which it was determined that consuming 40 g of protein did not produce a greater anabolic response than 20 g. However, the anabolic effect was studied only for 4 hours after taking the protein.. In their conclusion, the experts stated:
“...we hypothesize that consuming 20 grams of protein at a frequency of 5-6 times per day will achieve maximum muscle protein synthesis.”
Scientists Moore and Robinson imply that 100-120 g of protein per day is the limit that will allow you to grow muscles to the limit of human capabilities. However, numerous studies indicate that each person needs to consume the daily amount of protein that will be adequate to his goals, the needs of the body and the type of physical activity. After all, as mentioned above, the protein needs of a bodybuilder weighing 70 kg and his colleague weighing 100 kg will be significantly different.
In another study, researchers from the University of Connecticut compared how the body responded to moderate (30 g) and large servings of protein (90 g) for 5 hours after eating. As a result, a 90-gram serving of protein did not produce a higher spike in protein synthesis than a 30-gram serving. Regardless of the amount of protein consumed, muscle protein synthesis increased by 50%.
As mentioned above, our body is a very smart, and most importantly, economical system that can digest large amounts of food.
During a 2-week experiment (Arnaletal) there was no difference in lean mass or nitrogen retention(Nitrogen balance is what determines whether we gain or lose muscle) between subjects who consumed about 80% of their daily protein needs (an average of 54 grams per day, the study was conducted on women with an average lean body mass of 40.8 kg) per meal and those who divided the same amount of protein into 4 meals.
Considering that most training men have significantly more muscle mass than the women who took part in the experiment, it is likely that our body is able to digest more than 54 grams of protein per meal and use it to build muscle.
If the same 1.67 g of protein per 1 kg of body weight is applied to an adult male, we will get about 95 or more grams of protein, which is 3 times higher than the upper limit of protein intake of 30 grams, which is said by those who do not understand the issue of fitness. enthusiasts.
Scientists at the Beltsville Research Center conducted an interesting experiment using the tactics of intermittent fasting (Intermittentfasting):
During the 8-week experiment, the subjects were divided into 2 groups. The first group abstained from eating completely for 18 hours a day and consumed 86 grams of protein only within a 4-hour window. The second group distributed the same amount of protein over 3 meals evenly throughout the day. As a result, the first group experienced significant improvements in body composition (including an increase in lean muscle mass), while the second group did not experience statistically significant improvements.
Data from long-term studies indicate that our body is able to digest and use much more protein for muscle building than the 30 grams received in one meal. There is a scientific explanation for this, which is hidden in the peculiarities of the physiology of digestion.
The food we consume loses its original appearance in the acid bath known as the stomach and turns into a homogeneous mass - chyme. Next, the chyme moves through the small intestine using peristalsis (contraction of the digestive organs to move food along the digestive tract) and is absorbed by its walls. This is the assimilation of food.
Protein Digestion
When we consume protein, it goes through a stage of digestion in the stomach, where it is broken down into amino acids and peptides. These substances are then absorbed by the intestines and, with the participation of transporters, enter the blood. It is the transporters that are the limiting factor in the rate of protein absorption. These substances are only able to deliver protein to the muscles at a limited rate.
At the same time, as the manager of Examine.com, Spencer Nadolsky, notes, our body has no limit on the amount of protein absorption consumed in one meal, because depending on its needs, it can regulate the speed of digestion. This is explained by the ability of amino acids and some peptides to independently regulate the time they spend in the intestines. An example of such peptides is the digestive hormone cholecystokinin, which can slow intestinal motility and reduce the rate of protein absorption.
The hormone cholecystokinin is released in the presence of protein and can slow down digestive processes in order to absorb all the protein consumed in food.
As researchers from Examine.com note, there is a limit to the rate at which our bodies can absorb protein. However, if you eat more than it can absorb in a single period of time, the speed of digestive processes will decrease and the protein remaining in the small intestine will certainly be absorbed, albeit over a longer period of time.
Alan Aragon, in the conclusion of his material, emphasizes that if there is a limit to the amount of protein that our body is able to absorb at one time, then most likely it is equal to the total daily amount of protein that the body needs to cover all needs, including muscle building.
Scientific sources:
o A. Aragon, Is there a limit to how much protein the body can use in a single meal, wannabebig.com
o How much protein can I eat in one sitting, Examine.com
o Limit protein to 20g per meal, Precision Nutrition
o Liddle R., Cholecystokinin cells, Annu Rev Physiol. 1997;59:221-42
o Peristalsis, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
If the body, namely the intestines, could absorb only 30 grams of protein in one meal, then the vast majority of the population of our planet would die from a lack of amino acids. Let us remind you that protein is necessary not only for muscle growth, but also for maintaining normal life functions.
Almost all people currently eat 1-3 times a day, and the amount of protein in one serving exceeds 50 and sometimes 100 grams. At the same time, everything is successfully absorbed, albeit over a longer period of time than when consuming a small portion of 25-30 grams.
All kinds of thoughts that excess protein is deposited as fat, or is simply “flushed down the toilet” are not entirely accurate. Absorption of broken down protein occurs in the small intestine. Its absorption capacity is colossal - 500-700 grams of protein and 500 grams of fat per day. This amount of nutrients is consumed only by professional bodybuilders and no one else. Excess protein is the amount that your intestines cannot absorb. Of course, few people can even come close to this figure.
As an example, consider an ordinary chicken egg. To get 500 grams of protein from this high-quality source balanced in amino acid composition, you will have to eat about 100 eggs, including the yolk.
The digestion of proteins has its own nuances. It is known that the greater the one-time influx of amino acids, the longer the absorption process will last. You can absorb even 500 grams of protein in one meal, but this will take a very long time. But with a healthy intestine and normal activity of the enzyme system, there will be no problems with this, and this is a scientifically proven fact that can be read about in any competent physiology textbook. However, it is worth noting that eating that much food in one sitting will be incredibly difficult, since the satiety center of the hypothalamus will send depressing signals that will force you to stop eating.
The most recent counterargument to the possible 30 grams of protein per meal is the weight of a person. It is not difficult to build an ordinary logical chain of reasoning: the need for protein depends on the total body weight of a person. Also, the capabilities of a person’s digestive system are determined by the size of his body.
So, for a man weighing 70 kilograms, 30 grams of protein may seem like enough protein for one meal, but for a man weighing 100 kg, this will definitely not be enough. His needs are greater, as are his assimilation functions.
If someone tells you that a certain fixed amount of protein is absorbed in one meal, and does not take into account different body types and body weights, then all this is complete nonsense without scientific evidence.
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Is there a limit to protein absorption per meal? For training people, the value of this question is very high. Considering the variety of nutritional patterns (some eat 2 times a day, others 8) in the fitness environment, it is important to understand how much protein is absorbed in one meal.
Review on the topic: How much protein can you eat at a time?
Surely you have heard the opinion that you should not consume more than 30 g of protein at a time. This review will reveal what this statement is based on and how much protein you can actually eat at a time, with links to scientific data. Go!
More recent studies (AM J CLIN NUTR. 2009 and JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION. 2009) have examined the effects of protein intake on post-exercise recovery. The essence of the experiment was that after training, the experimental group took it and went to rest, and after 4 hours tests were taken from them. From this group, some did not take protein at all, some took 20 g, others 30, 50, etc.
The experiment showed that taking more than 30 g of protein at a time does not provide any increase in protein synthesis, i.e. large portions do not affect recovery. It is worth noting that these studies examined the effects of protein intake immediately AFTER EXERCISE on RECOVERY.
The second study involved both young and older people. After the load, the “experimental subjects” were fed meat in quantitative terms of pure protein 30 g and 90 g. It can be used for control and to know how much you can consume. Study conclusion: 90g of protein did not make any difference in recovery (muscle synthesis) compared to 30g.
It is not correct to close the question of the maximum one-time protein intake based on studies that studied exclusively muscle synthesis after training, and even after 2-4 hours (note that the issue of protein absorption by the body was not studied)!
But someone took these studies as a basis and released two common myths onto the Internet:
If our body absorbed only 30 g of protein per meal, then people such as military personnel, lumberjacks, builders, miners, miners in general are people who work very hard and eat 2-3 times a day, because... There’s simply no time, they’d just die from their work. And if they didn’t die, they would very quickly become “uncomfortable” from a lack of nutrients.
Failure to digest more than 30 g of protein at a time is a fiction
Our world is large and there are people in it who are far from the topic of sports and proper nutrition. They all eat on average 2-3 times a day. If the body absorbed only 30 g of protein at a time, humanity would die from protein deficiency.
In addition to what has been said, it is worth considering that people of average build weighing approximately 70 kg were studied. Obviously, for a 100 kg athlete, 30 grams of protein will have less effect on muscle synthesis than for a 70 kg athlete.
Anatomy, physiology and common sense must prevail!
Study conducted by J NUTR. in July 2000, “Protein feeding pattern does not affect retention” was carried out on girls. One group of girls ate the daily protein intake in one meal, and the second in 4. In total, both groups took the same amount of protein. Study conclusion: There is no difference in muscle synthesis and nitrogen balance between the two groups.
Another study on intermittent fasting conducted in November 2009 by AM J CLIN NUTR. entitled “Intermittent fasting does not affect whole-body glucose, lipid or protein metabolism” showed that a single intake of 101 g of protein (for the whole day) has no effect on the preservation and change of muscle composition, compared with control groups that ate those 101 g of protein in 2 or 4 doses.
Everyone knows that the absorption of protein, especially from meat, is a costly and labor-intensive process (especially in terms of time). Digestion of food and its absorption takes a very long time, especially such products as (almost up to 6 hours).
The small intestine is the main site of nutrient absorption
Digestion of food depends primarily on the proper functioning of enzyme systems, on the normal functioning of the digestive glands and gastric juice. With healthy systems, there should be no problems with absorption.
The degree of absorption of nutrients (including protein) by our body depends on the absorption capacity of the small intestine. Nature has endowed the intestines with a simply enormous ability to absorb various substances. In a day, a person can “suck in” half a kilo of fat, 500-700 g of protein, 20 liters of water, etc.
This way, a large single dose of protein will be digested and absorbed completely, but it will take longer than digesting a smaller portion.
There is no need to worry about how much protein our body can absorb in one meal. The only exception is if you are going to eat 700 g of protein at a time. However, think about whether it is advisable to “eat” so much, sorry, eat)))
The more protein you take at one time, the longer the process of digestion and absorption will be. That's all!
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Every athlete has heard the myths that the human body can absorb from 30 to 50 grams of protein. Do not assume that the human body cannot cope with more than this amount.
Every athlete has heard the myths that the human body can absorb from 30 to 50 grams of protein (protein). Do not assume that the human body cannot cope with more than this amount.
The figures given above can of course be considered true, but only for a person who leads a normal lifestyle - moderate or calm. But for athletes, and especially those involved in fitness or bodybuilding, these numbers should not be paid attention to.
With the help of this article, we will try to prove to you once and for all that our body has much greater capacity to absorb protein in one meal.
Let's start with the initial phase of protein digestion by the body. Before deepening our topic, let's remember how protein is digested, but without the academic cycle.
After protein enters the stomach, digestion processes begin in our stomach, namely, gastric juice is secreted, which serves as the initiator for the breakdown of products. After being broken down into amino acids, proteins enter the intestinal walls or directly into the bloodstream, and from here the metabolic processes required by our body begin in the liver.
And now we move on to the actual facts. So, on average, a professional bodybuilder weighs from 100 to 130 kg, which means he needs approximately 4000 - 6000 kilocalories per day, and during the drying phase, each of them almost completely excludes carbohydrates from his diet and, in order not to lose muscle mass, begins to consume more protein ( protein). This means that for the cutting phase, professional bodybuilders need to eat almost only protein (). And we know that 4000 kilocalories is 1 kg of protein (protein).
If you divide this amount of protein into 6 - 9 doses, it comes out to approximately 100 to 130 grams, which is 3 - 5 times higher than the “mythical” amount, which means that professional athletes would simply have twisted intestines, and there could be lethal outcomes.
Indeed, the excess protein is not immediately sent to the large intestine, but the body begins to distribute it by regulating digestion processes - slowing down the movement of the food coma from the stomach to the intestines - in other words, the duration of protein digestion slows down.
But large amounts of protein are not always beneficial. Proteins can be converted into fats, but this is unlikely; most likely, this resulting protein (protein) can still be processed by the body through other anabolic processes, namely, it will be processed by the liver and will be left as glycogen.
We advise you not to exceed your daily protein intake too much. Although, with the effective use of all amino acids, this is harmless and will help you achieve maximum muscle mass gain, as well as a greater effect when drying.
