Can I get too much protein at one meal?

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Lisa1971
Lisa1971 Posts: 3,069 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Just had a super delish protein shake for lunch and saw that it totaled 50g of protein. Is this too much??? Can our bodies handle this much protein at one sitting?

Thanks!
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Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,404 MFP Moderator
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    No such thing as too much in one sitting. .. I just down 97g of protein for lunch...
  • tyrsnbdr
    tyrsnbdr Posts: 234 Member
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    No such thing as too much in one sitting. .. I just down 97g of protein for lunch...

    I disagree. You body can only process so much protein at once. Too much protein won't be processed and moved out of the body. Usually that number is around 40-50g every couple of hours.
  • norm67axp
    norm67axp Posts: 461
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    No such thing as too much in one sitting. .. I just down 97g of protein for lunch...

    I disagree. You body can only process so much protein at once. Too much protein won't be processed and moved out of the body. Usually that number is around 40-50g every couple of hours.

    Agree too....I think the most a professional body builder can process in one sitting is like 45 grams. It's a waste if its too much.
  • hwoeltjen
    hwoeltjen Posts: 199 Member
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    Your intestines are only going to absorb so much at one time. That's just common sense. However, I cannot tell you for sure how much that is. Some people will say 100g per hour and others will say 25g.
  • STC1188
    STC1188 Posts: 101 Member
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    Yes, you can eat too much protein in one meal--obviously if you ate 1000g of protein, you won't be having a good day.

    But seriously, do not listen to the people saying 25-30g is all your body can digest in an hour, or whatever. That is broscience. Yes, you cannot use all the amino acids in that hour, but your body will hold on to the protein and only in desperation will it break it down into glucose. Note that this is why protein is so filling: it can stay in the body a long time without being "digested".

    Unless you have kidney issues, and you are not eating several hundred grams of protein per meal, you're good to go.
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
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    You guys may want to look at protein pulse feeding studies.

    These elderly women under protein pulse feeding were consuming 1.7 g x kg of lean mass in protein during lunch. The average lean mass was 38.3 kg and heaviest being 45 kg - thus they were being fed an average of 65.11 g of protein, and up to 76.5 g, in a single meal. Both nitrogen balance and protein turnover were higher in the pulse group compared to the spread group.

    http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/69/6/1202.long#

    Also, due to the high satiety value of protein, it isn't even realistic to consider the maximum absorption estimate in a single meal in clinical trials.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    No such thing as too much in one sitting. .. I just down 97g of protein for lunch...

    Had to go check your diary to see how...but not that hard based on what you eat...

    I will have to check out the high protien breads as well.

    ETA I can if I eat at home and plan get about 50 per meal.....lots of lean meats like chicken, pork, fish/seafood.

    I don't see it as a waste as I have to get in at least 121 a day so eating 3 meals it's min 40g a meal
  • GingerLolita
    GingerLolita Posts: 738 Member
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    Since protein and fats are harder to digest (than carbs), too much of either gives me a stomach ache... Otherwise, I'm not sure.
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    No such thing as too much in one sitting. .. I just down 97g of protein for lunch...

    I disagree. You body can only process so much protein at once. Too much protein won't be processed and moved out of the body. Usually that number is around 40-50g every couple of hours.

    Agree too....I think the most a professional body builder can process in one sitting is like 45 grams. It's a waste if its too much.

    Strong broscience... good lord.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    If a body "can't" process more than 40ish grams at once, then I guess the rest of us are special snowflakes with Super-Bodies, made with extra-absorbent intestines? (Or just read the study GeekyJock posted)
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,022 Member
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    Please. I eat 140 g in one meal every day. If I could only process 30 or 40 g at a time, I'd be losing muscle mass like crazy. Somehow, I managed to squat 230 lbs last night.
  • Chain_Ring
    Chain_Ring Posts: 753 Member
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    Don't get too crazy. Ha ha
  • da_bears10089
    da_bears10089 Posts: 1,791 Member
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    Please. I eat 140 g in one meal every day. If I could only process 30 or 40 g at a time, I'd be losing muscle mass like crazy. Somehow, I managed to squat 230 lbs last night.

    obviously you are a very special snowflake then...
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    What do people think happens to the extra protein beyond 40 grams? It evaporates?

    And seriously..... who actually thinks you can eat half a chicken, and the entire thing is digested within an hour or two? Do you even physiology?
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    Found this post....

    "The 30 gram per meal guideline/myth/rule of thumb/urban legend/whatever MIGHT HAVE SOME BASIS IN FACT (all caps for those who want to argue).

    Of your whole small intestine, protein is mainly absorbed by only the first 2/5ths, called the duodenum and jejunum. Once your meal gets to the ileum (3rd part of the small intestine), protein absorption drops dramatically. Several studies claim whey protein absorption at 10 grams per hour, and something similar for pork loin (but take the pork results with a grain of salt). So, the question is, how long does a meal spend in the duodenum and jejunum?

    The answer is: It depends. It depends on the gastric emptying rate (how fast the stomach releases the food into the small intestine), the peristaltic rate (how fast the waves of contractions in the intestine move food along), and sometimes the previous contents of the small intestine (i.e. roadblock). The best answer I came up with is about 3-4 hours awake, and 6-8 asleep, however it's actually quite tough to find a good answer to the question of how fast food moves through the small intestine.

    So while lots and lots of people will tell you the 30 gram limit is horse puckey, I'll tell you there just might be a grain of truth to that old rule of thumb. In general, eat some fats with your protein, they slow gastric emptying. Eat some solid food with every protein shake, as it'll slow things a bit too. If you're only using 30-40 grams of whey at a time between meals then it's probably not something to worry about. However, if you think about it, there are 24 hours in a day... 10 grams per hour... math says 240 grams is about the limit, depending on how big your intestines are (they scale with height, not weight)."
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    In general, eat some fats with your protein, they slow gastric emptying.

    For me, that's a given. If I ever eat lean protein, I'm adding fats to it for flavor.
  • Ignaura
    Ignaura Posts: 203 Member
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    I have 65g of protein for lunch and dinner, and I'm doing just fine. I say that if you are going to overeat something, let it be protein; but keep your calories in mind of you want to have a deficit.
  • churrochi
    churrochi Posts: 11
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    What does an excess of protein do to digestion? Will you not "do the number two" as often? (Apologies if anyone finds this question to be on the crass side!)
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    <Insert inappropriate joke about too much protein.>

    But in all seriousness, I don't think there's any such thing as too much. Just be sure you have a balance with your other macros at the end of the day that aligns with whatever fitness goals you have.
  • BenjaminMFP88
    BenjaminMFP88 Posts: 660 Member
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    I haven't found any convincing study which suggests that protein is wasted when digesting more then a certain amount at any given time. I can say from experience that I feel better when I upped my protein intake from 80g to 200g a day. And I promise you I'm not carefully calculating how much protein I get at any given time.

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