Grams of protein per pound of bodyweight

[SuupaJim]

Can anybody tell me how many grams of protein a person should eat per pound of bodyweight? I've heard anywhere from 1-3 so some scientific backup would be nice.

[bill1234]

If natural, 1.5 should be good.

[hotasice2003]

You can take 5000g - if you're not synthesizing it, it won't make a didly squat. If your amino acid profile is complete (meaning you are consuming enough different programs to acquire all of the needed amino acids to keep your body in a positive nitrogen balance) you do not need much more than 1g per lb of bw. That number is suggested under the assumption that is the amount that it takes to force your body into a positive nitrogen balance. (If this is confusing, go check out my post in the original articles on Aminos).

If you simply increase your intake of the BCAAs (especially Leucine), you can trick your body in believing that all of the necessary aminos are available, forcing it to synthesize protein even when the essential aminos aren't available. Recent science has suggested that the body looks to Leucine as an "indicator" amino to decide whether or not to be in a positive nitrogen balance. FYI - your body has to be in a positive balance to synthesize protein. It is totally binary - true or false, yes or no, one or zero. There is no "partial" positive nitrogen balance. As far as ONLY increasing Leucine intake via supplementation, I wouldn't recommend it - take all three of the BCAAs together. Your body requires the BCAAs to be in a certain ratio (Leucine:Iso-leucine:Valine). Megadosing one without the others could cause problems for synthesis.

I recommend taking in less protein while you're bulking. The amount of other nutrients you are consuming should be muscle-sparing enough to not require all of that protein. Your body will require more protein while you are attempting to burn fat, since your carb intake should be lower which would force your body to depend on metabolizing muscle for energy. So during lower caloric consumption periods, it is necessary to consume more protein to avoid catabolism.

b

[Ectomato]

Yep...one of the reasons why whey is so anabolic.

[SuupaJim]

And is it bad to mix whey protein with milk because of the fat or does it not really matter?