So much for Protein amount intake

YassSpartan

So today I remembered that someone had told me that in order to gain muscle mass accordingly to the amount of exercise a person does (weight lifting). Because of it I decided to go online and google 1 gram of protein per body weight and different forums and results came up.

In one specific forum people started talking about that referring 1 gram of protein per lean muscle pound, some others referred to the whole body weight, there was one guy who even said to eat 2 grams of protein per lean muscle pound. That until someone showed up as a guest mentioning that too much protein (like 1 gram per lean muscle pound) not only is useless when it comes about helping the muscle grow but also that is actually harmful for the body, since during the process of the liver converting protein to amino acids, ammonia is generated, and as a result it can damage your kidneys.

The same guy that stated the ammonia issue posted a few videos of this "expert" or whatever he is where he says that muscle grows because of workouts not because of eating too much protein. Honestly, protein is what the muscle needs to grow and repair itself after workouts, and I'm sure the more you workout and the highest the intensity, the more protein you need to eat. I'm not expert but I don't think eating little amounts of protein will help anyone gain muscle while going thru an intensive weight lifting program.

If that's really the case, when you look at a professional program which is not even a for body building like P90X and like in my case where I'm supposed to eat 2800 calories a day, %50 person of it being protein which equals 350 grams of protein, compared to my total body weight that was 181 lbs, would you think that P90X is actually trying to mess up your kidneys and the professional nutritionists that were used to create their nutrition plan are wrong? I don't think so.

So far, I'm eating somewhere around 202 grams of protein a day (less than P90X suggest me to eat and more than what those against 1g per lb of body weight), and it has worked for me, I don't have any kidneys issue and my muscles have been growing at a normal pace, since this program is not so much for huge muscle mass growth.

If you want to share hat are your experiences and knowledge about this topic, please feel free to comment about it.

laddyboy

I've read similiar info and have been equally confused. I settled on shooting for 35-50 grams per meal eating 5-6 times per day.
I read most systems can't really process more than that and there is a possibility for excess protein to be converted to carbs and stored as fat. This nutrition stuff is complicated.

Newfiedan

well you hit the nail on the head in that for muscle growth you need more protein, and for that you need to work the muscles. You will not gain muscle just from eating protein by itself which is why when people ask me about it I say that you need to eat for the goal you have in mind. I want to maintain and build upon my muscle for now so I eat 1 gram for every pound of my current weight to the tune of 170ish grams a day. I learned the basics of muscle growth back when I first started working out as a teen and then into my university years but more importantly I did not get the entire picture until now when I have coupled diet with my workouts to maximize results. protein can not be converted to carbs and for it to be converted to fat it takes much more energy for the body to do that so it usually ends up going out as waste.

AdAstra47

I'm certainly no expert, but as I understand it both protein and fat will just pass out of your body if you don't use them. They are not water-soluble, so they don't enter your cells unless the cells need them and reach out & 'grab' them (I'm trying to avoid all the biochemistry technobabble here, apologies if it sounds silly this way). From what I've read/heard, I do not think protein is ever converted to fat, it always either is burned, becomes muscle, or is expelled as waste.
Carbs, on the other hand, are water-soluble (carboHYDRATEs) and your body will take them whether they need them or not. Then, if you're not active enough & don't burn them right away, they're converted to the fat that gets stored on your body. So I think you're on the right track with limiting carbs and increasing protein.
The reason some diets work for some people & not others is because everyone's metabolism is different. If you're confused about the right amounts for your body, I would have your doctor do the three-hour glucose tolerance test. Not sure whether that's the right name... basically you fast overnight, and the doctor draws blood in the a.m. before you eat anything, and then has you drink a sweet drink, then takes your blood again every hour after that for three hours. It gives the dr. a detailed look at exactly how your body processes sugar, and lets you develop a ratio of carbs/fat/protein that will feed your body exactly what it needs.