New Meta Analysis on Max Protein Intake and MPS

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mmapags
mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Just published from Alan Aragon and Brad Shoenfeld. Relevant to some discussions here lately.
https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-018-0215-1

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  • Davidsdottir
    Davidsdottir Posts: 1,285 Member
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    Interesting. So, according to the research, I should be eating 24-34g protein per meal spread over 4 meals per day (136 lbs).I think that's kinda where I'm at as is, but I'll be looking more closely today. Thanks for posting!
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    Davidsdottir wrote: »
    Interesting. So, according to the research, I should be eating 24-34g protein per meal spread over 4 meals per day (136 lbs).I think that's kinda where I'm at as is, but I'll be looking more closely today. Thanks for posting!

    The link was in ETP and Alan was asked and answered some questions. One of them was what if I only eat 2x per day and intake more at each meal. He basically said, the analysis is identifying the neighborhood of "optimum". Other intakes will still be somewhat beneficial even if not optimal.

    I intake about 40 to 50 grams 3x per day. For me age, that is pretty ok. Might be more optimal if I split that 150 grams or so into 4.
  • Davidsdottir
    Davidsdottir Posts: 1,285 Member
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    mmapags wrote: »
    Davidsdottir wrote: »
    Interesting. So, according to the research, I should be eating 24-34g protein per meal spread over 4 meals per day (136 lbs).I think that's kinda where I'm at as is, but I'll be looking more closely today. Thanks for posting!

    The link was in ETP and Alan was asked and answered some questions. One of them was what if I only eat 2x per day and intake more at each meal. He basically said, the analysis is identifying the neighborhood of "optimum". Other intakes will still be somewhat beneficial even if not optimal.

    I intake about 40 to 50 grams 3x per day. For me age, that is pretty ok. Might be more optimal if I split that 150 grams or so into 4.

    I pretty much just eat all day long LOL
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,483 Member
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    I've been eating 25-35g (up to 100g per day) protein at each meal for a few years now. It is one of the recommendations for preventing sarcopenia in the elderly.

    Still working my way through the above paper (it always takes me ages).
    Thanks for posting it.

    Cheers, h.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    middlehaitch wrote: »
    I've been eating 25-35g (up to 100g per day) protein at each meal for a few years now. It is one of the recommendations for preventing sarcopenia in the elderly.

    Still working my way through the above paper (it always takes me ages).
    Thanks for posting it.

    Cheers, h.

    Tl/Dnr version. If you're doing that 4x times per day, you are optimizing MPS. ;)
  • fb47
    fb47 Posts: 1,058 Member
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    lol, I usually intake over 50g of protein per meal....I might have to change strategy now
  • Rose18l
    Rose18l Posts: 147 Member
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    The problem with this research is that it measured it on whey based protein only. Whey is fast absorbing. While if you eat real food protein or casein based protein digestion is slower. This means the body gets a longer time to absorb before the protein is broken down. So in real food situations this research doesn't say much.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    Rose18l wrote: »
    The problem with this research is that it measured it on whey based protein only. Whey is fast absorbing. While if you eat real food protein or casein based protein digestion is slower. This means the body gets a longer time to absorb before the protein is broken down. So in real food situations this research doesn't say much.

    Your point is valid. In a thread with Alan Aragon on facebook, he acknowledges this and said that factor was beyond the scope of this work. But he suspects whole food sources of protein in a meal with other macro-nutrients would have a longer absorption time and that it seems resasonable but he hadn't seen any research on it.

    That being said, there is no real downside to spreading your protein intake in this way nor is there any huge drawback to consuming more in a meal. Personally, I intake about 40 or so grams preworkout in the morning and about the same mid day, then get the rest of my 145 grams or so at dinner. Getting it with a full meal, I believe, helps absorption and I'm not competing so if it is not 100% optimal, I'm not going to worry about it. Based on actual results, I'm doing fine with maintaining and even adding a little muscle mass as I've been in a winter maintenance mode.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    fb47 wrote: »
    lol, I usually intake over 50g of protein per meal....I might have to change strategy now

    There is usually one meal per day where I get 50 to 70 grams. Meh! The others are in the right range. Only one is a whey smoothie and that has bananas and berries, so likely a good absorption rate. FWIW, I used to practice IF but a couple of months ago I read some data from Eric Helms that was along these same lines and I made the adaptation to some protein with a little carbs in the morning as a PWO meal with coffee. I also changed my routine at that point so it's hard to tell what caused what but in combination, the changes have been effective.
  • JAYxMSxPES
    JAYxMSxPES Posts: 193 Member
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    mmapags wrote: »
    fb47 wrote: »
    lol, I usually intake over 50g of protein per meal....I might have to change strategy now

    There is usually one meal per day where I get 50 to 70 grams. Meh! The others are in the right range. Only one is a whey smoothie and that has bananas and berries, so likely a good absorption rate. FWIW, I used to practice IF but a couple of months ago I read some data from Eric Helms that was along these same lines and I made the adaptation to some protein with a little carbs in the morning as a PWO meal with coffee. I also changed my routine at that point so it's hard to tell what caused what but in combination, the changes have been effective.

    They did say that even with protein consumed above the 20-30gm (was it?) not all of it is oxidized and some is used for tissue repair, so it's probably not a complete loss.
  • Okiludy
    Okiludy Posts: 558 Member
    edited February 2018
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    "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."

    I would need to be at 176g-242g spread evenly between 4 meals. This is in line with my current diet even in a cut. It is even in line with the 1g per pound of lean body mass for me. I do spread out my intake shooting for 35-55 per meal and then having a protein shake mid-afternoon.

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