The truth about protein absorption rates?

[Donnie Murray]

Hey! I just have a quick question for you Dr.Hartman. There seems to be a ton of information out there about how much and how often you can consume protein. I am not one of these guys that times his meals or weighs anything but I do enjoy eating a 12oz steak with some over easy eggs now and again, my question being, is it really possible for my body to only really use 8oz worth of protein from that whole meal? If that is true, what is the amount of time you should wait between protein intake before you can eat another 8oz? Thanks!

Donnie

[Michael Hartman]

Hi Donnie. I would keep eating your steak and eggs. Most of the info regarding limits to protein intake are based around studies that demonstrate maximal protein synthesis / amino acid uptake from consuming 20-30g of protein. So, using that info, 3 eggs or a 4oz steak would be the most anyone needs to build muscle.

I think it is safe to say the next person who gets really big and strong eating only 20g of protein/meal would also be the first person to do so.

The benefits of eating protein are not just limited to protein synthesis. Most importantly you have to consider total caloric need. If you require 3000+ calories/day, it would be hard to meet that need while limiting protein to 20g/meal. Additonal protein also has other benefits related to increased metabolism and total protein turnover.

[NickHorton]

Hi Donnie. I would keep eating your steak and eggs. Most of the info regarding limits to protein intake are based around studies that demonstrate maximal protein synthesis / amino acid uptake from consuming 20-30g of protein. So, using that info, 3 eggs or a 4oz steak would be the most anyone needs to build muscle.

I think it is safe to say the next person who gets really big and strong eating only 20g of protein/meal would also be the first person to do so.

The benefits of eating protein are not just limited to protein synthesis. Most importantly you have to consider total caloric need. If you require 3000+ calories/day, it would be hard to meet that need while limiting protein to 20g/meal. Additonal protein also has other benefits related to increased metabolism and total protein turnover.

I think this type of thing exemplifies one of the key problems in our field: Exercise/Nutrition scientists and actual coaches don't spend enough time talking to one another.

In any "practical" field, researchers and practitioners need to communicate if they want to make progress at a rate beyond a snails pace. Imagine if physicists and engineers totally ignored one another. We'd still not be able to build bridges.

Researches (often rightfully) feel like the average strength coach is totally clueless when it comes to science, the scientific method, the important use of models (including math - gasp!), and statistical analysis.

Coaches (often rightfully) feel like their "real world" experiences fall on deaf ears, in large part because so many of these exercise scientists have never lifted a weight in their life.

So we end up in situations where nutrition scientists can go around saying athletes need very little protein to build muscle - which is blatantly false - and coaches can act like dark-age religious fanatics who accuse scientists of being clueless and having nothing of value to offer them.

Researchers: get out of the lab and do some "field" work (like anthropologists) and take stock of what is actually occurring the in the real world.

Coaches: Strength coaching ain't rocket science, but it IS biology and physics. Retreating into the "black box" doesn't do anyone any good.

Alright ... off to go eat some steak and eggs!