How much protein can be absorb from one sitting?

[chesterr]

Sorry guys I know this question has been asked like a million times but how much protein can a person absorb at once. I did a lot of searching and reading articles and I hear different answers every single time. 25g, 30g, any g. I usually take one scoop of 25g but I want to increase to 2 scoops post work out because I never get enough protein from foods. Any sources and science would be appreciated. Thanks!

[AlwaysTryin]

More than the majority of people eat in one meal.

[chesterr]

More than the majority of people eat in one meal.

links/sources/science?

[AlwaysTryin]

links/sources/science?

http://www.wannabebig.com/diet-and-n...a-single-meal/

[JasonDB]

If you know basic digestion and how the human GI track works you know that the body can only absorb around 15,000-18,000 calories in a day before it starts to expel undigested/unabsorbed food. We also know that the body absorbs protein at nearly 100% effeciency, although it takes quite a long time... for example most tissue proteins take anywhere from 48 to 72hours to completely absorb. Now it is difficult to find many foods that are more than 90% protein so if we take the above caloric absorbsion figure and assume 90% protein by calorie and maybe 2% lost due to digestion ineffeciency... we get 13,200-15,800 protein calories per day as an upper threashold... at 4 calories per gram that comes down to 3,300g-3,950g of protein in a day. Now assuming you eat 3 meals a day that is going to be just over 1,000g per sitting.

You do realize the protein per sitting thing is arbitrary, and a sitting has no meaning.. does that mean if you stand up and walk back to the kitchen for another serving and sit back down that you just had 2 sittings? Do they mean per hour? Per two hours? Why would this even matter when we know you don't fully absorb slower digesting proteins the same day you eat them anyway? Should we break it up into sleepings instead of sittings?

This was a scam created by the supplement industry to convince people to drink shakes between their normal meals and was never based upon any science or research... they just made it up. So you are asking for science to disprove a topic that was just made up for marketing purposes and never taken seriously in the nutritional science world and therefore there have never been studies needed to prove in incorrect as basic human digestion already shows it to be absurd.

[halvingmyself]

Basically has already been answered but I remember asking this same question (in my head, that is) a few months ago and really liked this answer:

"First off, “meal” is the key word, one that I omitted in my original statement. Eating 50 grams of straight protein – and protein alone, whether it’s whey protein or 99% fat-free lean sirloin – is probably going to have a different effect than eating a mixed meal which contains 50-some odd grams of protein in addition to fat and digestible, fermentable, and insoluble carbohydrates. In other words, protein is rarely eaten alone. It’s eaten atop salads, alongside veggies, with starches, and it often comes imbued with animal fat (as meat). It’s eaten as a meal.

Digestion takes a long time, and it’s not a segmented procession of different meals through the gastrointestinal tract. Food isn’t separated into “meals” in your stomach. It’s just all food, all mashed together. If you still have breakfast in your stomach when your lunch enters the picture, lunch and breakfast will meet and mingle. Stomach acid breaks the food down into a big semifluid mass of partially digested food components, water, digestive enzymes, and hydrochloric acid – all referred to as chyme. When the chyme is “ready,” it’s pushed through the duodenum (where nutrient extraction begins) and into the intestines.

Once the protein part of the chyme has been broken down by enzymes into amino acids, amino acid absorption by the intestines can begin. Amino acid transporters grab amino acids and transport them through the cells lining the intestinal wall and from there into the bloodstream to be delivered to other parts of the body. But because the pool of amino acid transporters is limited, amino acids are typically absorbed by the small intestine at a rate of 5-10 grams per hour. This would suggest, at first glance, that the original “30 grams of protein per sitting” figure is close to correct. If you can only absorb, say, 7 grams of protein per hour, and the bolus of digested protein and other foods takes 4 to 5 hours to wind its way through the intestine, you’re gonna absorb maybe 28-35 grams. Right?

Not exactly. It turns out that our digestive process is fairly fine-tuned and regulated by the composition of whatever’s being digested. The presence of protein in chyme actually causes the secretion of CCK, a hormone that slows down the intestinal contractions that move food along, thus giving the protein more time to be transported by amino acid transporters. So, while it’s technically true that we aren’t absorbing 30 grams (let alone more) of protein all at once, it will eventually be absorbed.

Clearly, a fair amount is directed to normal tissue growth and repair. If it’s much more than that, a few possibilities enter the picture. Some will be directed towards a short term storage option referred to as the “labile protein reserve.” In this case, skeletal muscle tissue will take up some of the excess amino acids and simply store then for possible near future use (like within a day or so or for emergencies). Beyond that, your body will want to oxidize excess amino acids directly for fuel or convert them to glucose in the liver via gluconeogenesis. It will convert the nitrogen from the amino acids into ammonia and you will excrete that in your urine. If levels get too high in the bloodstream, your pH will shift (more acidic) and calcium will be called upon to balance pH out again. As we have seen with some people going full Primal, larger intakes of protein can offset lowered carb intake by generating significant rises in glucose through gluconeogenesis. Indeed, there are a lot of options the body has when you eat a high protein meal.

I still wouldn’t “stuff” myself on protein. If you have to force feed that lean chicken breast, perhaps your body’s trying to tell you something. Upon digestion, excess carbs and fat can be limitlessly and easily absorbed and assimilated (as body fat or glycogen) or burned off, but excess protein still requires extra work. Protein digestion produces toxic metabolites that we can usually get rid of, even on higher protein intakes, but there’s clearly a limit. Our bodies finding protein to be extremely filling? Our intestines actually slowing down the digestive process when protein is present? This is just how our bodies absorb protein at their own pace. They take their sweet time, but they get it all.

Okay, so we do absorb most of the protein we eat, whether it’s a 30-gram whey shake that’s absorbed in a couple hours or a large porterhouse whose protein is absorbed in ten hours. We’re not pooping amino acids. But are we using all that protein? Is it doing uniquely proteiny stuff, like building muscle? Or will everything above 30 grams get converted into glucose?

That depends. Many factors affect how your body utilizes a given amount of protein:

Body Size

If you’re a bigger person (longer limbs, more potential spots for amino acids to be utilized), you can handle more absolute protein, and that protein will be more likely to go toward muscle protein synthesis.

If you’re smaller, the reverse is true. You simply don’t need as much absolute protein for structural demands, and you’ll have a lower threshold before protein becomes an energy substrate. If you eat the same steak as the bigger guy (all else being equal), you won’t “use” as many of the amino acids as he will.

Activity Level

Are you sedentary? You require less protein. Your muscles aren’t getting the signal to build and grow stronger and adapt to an imposed demand. The RDA of 0.36g/lb bodyweight should suffice.

Are you moderately active, jogging here and there, maybe riding the bike to work once or twice a week, and doing some basic lifting in the gym? You can use a bit more, as physical activity increases protein demand.

Are you actively trying to pack on muscle mass, and working out accordingly? You can use a lot more protein, up to and perhaps even over 1g/lb bodyweight.

Age

Muscle maintenance in the elderly seems to require larger relative amounts of dietary protein. In one study, the RDA of 0.36g/lb bodyweight wasn’t enough to prevent some muscle catabolism.

Stress Level

Chronic stress, as indicated by chronically elevated cortisol levels, reduces muscle protein synthesis (protein doing proteiny stuff) and increases gluconeogenesis (conversion of protein into glucose).

It’s also worth noting that amino acids do other stuff, too, beyond building muscle and providing energy substrates when in excess. It’s not as if amino acids that don’t go toward rippling pecs are immediately converted into glucose. No, they’re also:

Taken up by the intestines, both as an energy source for the small intestine and to form a reserve pool of amino acids that the body can draw upon during fasting or starvation (when there’s little to no dietary amino acids input) instead of breaking down skeletal muscle to turn into energy, at least in rats.
Precursors for various neurotransmitters (like serotonin and dopamine).
So, to answer the question – yes, we’re probably absorbing all the protein we eat, but, depending on what we’re doing with our time, how old we are, how large or small we are, how active we are, how much we’re lifting, and how much stress we’re under, we’re all using the protein we absorb in different ways and proportions. As is often the case, the answer brings up even more questions. But that’s okay, because that’s just something else to explore."



Source: Marks daily apple (can't post link reference because I'm too newb)

[rand18m]

You will hydrolyze and absorb ~95-99% of the protein you eat in the form of free amino acids, di and tri peptides.

The remainder you don't absorb are then used by your colonic bacteria.

The exception in a healthy individual (some) would be when you greatly increase that macro and for a short period your bugs may get a bit more. This is why some people experience gas when they first start upping their protein intake, particularly with whey supplements. However in short order your enzyeme synthesis is up regulated and your back in business.

So all of the protein you eat will either be absorbed or used by your bugs, you know they have to eat too!!

Hope that helps.

[Bonuman]

Good stuff, both.

Tried to rep, Jason, but must spread.

Here is the link: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/dear-...from-one-meal/

[Gxp23]

If you read about intermitent (spelling) fasting, the people who do this eat a **** load in one sitting and get results, the most i have in one meal is probs 90-110 grams of protein if im hungry enough.

[theculture]

I will sometimes eat 50-60g protein at once, i'd be hard pressed to believe that my body doesn't digest/use all of it.

1 scoop whey in water (25g) and half a chicken quiznos sub (35g) ... great post workout meal

[GING3R]

I do IF.

I eat 80-90g of protein in my first meal everyday. OP don't worry about it.