Question about protein.

reedbryant

I'm fairly new to the fitness world. Trying to get my diet right and protein levels where they need to be. I have a strength training routine in place. I'm wanting to put on some muscle, and I've found an easy way to get a lot of protein is to eat an entire can of salmon. 5 servings in a can is 100 grams of protein, but I worry that is too much in one sitting. Also, is eating too much fish unhealthy? How many grams of protein a day should I be getting? Should I go above what myfitnesspal's daily recommended is? Any input would be appreciated.

ecjim

If you are using a good training program , and looking to build muscle. Shoot for 1 gm of protein per lb of body weight - assuming you are not obese. Eat this over multiple meals through the day. More won't hurt , but not needed. You also need carbs , fats, & veggies.
What weight training program are you running ?

Dogmom1978

100 grams of protein at once is definitely high and not needed for muscle gain.

I’ve seen .8-1 gram per lb of body weight for muscle gain. I don’t know what you weigh, so I can’t give you an exact number.

steveko89

Pertinent excerpt from a meta-analysis on protein intake studies:

"Based on the sound research, many review papers have concluded 0.82g/lb is the upper limit at which protein intake benefits body composition (Phillips & Van Loon, 2011). This recommendation often includes a double 95% confidence level, meaning they took the highest mean intake at which benefits were still observed and then added two standard deviations to that level to make absolutely sure all possible benefits from additional protein intake are utilized. As such, this is already overdoing it and consuming 1g/lb ‘to be safe’ doesn’t make any sense. 0.82g/lb is already very safe."

That's largely where the 1 g/lb advice comes from.

I suggest taking that 0.82g/lb, multiplying by your bodyweight and then divide by the number of meals you intend to consume. Even at 200 lbs, you'd only need ~55g protein per meal at 3 meals/day, which is pretty manageable.

Edit to add link to full analysis:
https://mennohenselmans.com/the-myth-of-1glb-optimal-protein-intake-for-bodybuilders/?fbclid=IwAR0fiEKMgN4D9KZBTXUGlSwFzoQOayb3_q1TqH0TsN3MppxhF8VdXONz6lw

minstrelofsarcasm

I would also like to mention that your body can only process so much protein at a time, so consuming it all in one go isn't likely to be utilized fully, but instead wasted (wordplay intended)

camillaaxx

Salmon is super healthy! My only concerned is about mercury. For fish with higher mercury like tuna only shoot for one portion per week. Salmon has less mercury but I still wouldn’t have more than one portion a day to be safe!

TonyB0588

minstrelofsarcasm wrote: »

I would also like to mention that your body can only process so much protein at a time, so consuming it all in one go isn't likely to be utilized fully, but instead wasted (wordplay intended)

We've drifted from the good old days of prepared meals at clearly defined mealtimes. A number of sensible meals at different times of the day will give a better spread of all that the body needs. Therefore various amounts of protein from a variety of sources should get you close to the desired total by the end of the day.

psuLemon

minstrelofsarcasm wrote: »

I would also like to mention that your body can only process so much protein at a time, so consuming it all in one go isn't likely to be utilized fully, but instead wasted (wordplay intended)

A semantic correction and I apologies for being pedantic. Your body can process all the protein your throw at it in a single meal. But what you are more likely referring to is the amount of protein associated with muscle protein synthesis. MPS rates are not really different if you whether you consume 30 or 90g in a single sitting. And if you spread it out to 4 to 5 meals, your are more likely stimulating MPS more frequently, given you are consuming 25-40g per meal (of highly quality protein). High quality protiens are from meat, fish, dairy, eggs. Lower quality proteins are from veggies due to lower L-Luecine contents (driver for MPS). If a person follows vegetarian/vegan, then they should aim for the higher levels of protein per meal if there goal is muscle gains.