Protein Myth? - 1g/lb

kyleekay10
kyleekay10 Posts: 1,812 Member
edited February 4 in Food and Nutrition
I found this article today, and I thought it was very interesting. It addresses the effectiveness of consuming more than .82g of protein per pound of body weight. After reading this, I still have no plans to change from my 1g/lb protein goal (it helps keep me full!) but I thought others might like to read it. It also implies that your intake should be based on LEAN body mass (not overall body weight) so that is something I plan to research further.

http://mennohenselmans.com/the-myth-of-1glb-optimal-protein-intake-for-bodybuilders/

If you don't have time for the whole article, here's the "take home" messages:

• There is normally no advantage to consuming more than 0.82g/lb (1.8g/kg) of protein per day to preserve or build muscle. This already includes a very safe mark-up. There hasn’t been any recorded advantage of consuming more than 0.64g/lb. The only exceptions to this rule could be individuals with extraordinarily high anabolic hormone levels.

• Optimal protein intake decreases with training age, because your body becomes more efficient at preventing protein breakdown resulting from training and less protein is needed for the increasingly smaller amount of muscle that is built after each training session. The magnitude of this effect is unclear.

:flowerforyou:

Replies

  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    The 2006 athlete + lifting study results were based on the athletes eating a self-reported uncontrolled diet which resulted in maintenance intake (shown by the athletes not gaining weight over 12 weeks). Not surprisingly, they didn't put on significantly more lean mass in any protein intake group. There were statistically insignificant results of most strength and lean mass gain in the highest protein group. But really, what are you supposed to learn about building muscle with athletes eating maintenance? Other than it's probably not gonna happen.
  • kyleekay10
    kyleekay10 Posts: 1,812 Member
    What I took from the overall article was that 1g of protein per lb of body weight (which is the generally accepted standard, from what I've seen) may not be necessary to build and/or maintain muscle, regardless of caloric intake.
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    What I took from the overall article was that 1g of protein per lb of body weight (which is the generally accepted standard, from what I've seen) may not be necessary to build and/or maintain muscle, regardless of caloric intake.

    That's what the article said. Check out the citations.
  • Wetcoaster
    Wetcoaster Posts: 1,788 Member
    There is also this study last month from Science Daily

    Doubling the Daily Allowance of Protein Intake With Diet and Exercise Protects Muscle Loss

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130829110430.htm?utm_content=buffer0b4c0&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=Buffer

    Aug. 29, 2013 — A new report appearing in the September issue of The FASEB Journal challenges the long-held adage that significant muscle loss is unavoidable when losing weight through exercise and diet. In the report, scientists show that consuming twice the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of protein while adhering to a diet and exercise plan prevents the loss of muscle mass and promotes fat loss. Tripling the RDA of protein, however, failed to provide additional benefits.



    "It is our hope that the findings from this well-controlled study will be discussed and cited by the Institute of Medicine for the updated Dietary Reference Intakes on protein," said Stefan M. Pasiakos, Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Military Nutrition Division at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Natick, MA. "We believe that the RDA for protein should be based on a level to optimize health, as well as prevent deficiencies, and our data demonstrate a potential inadequacy of the current RDA for sparing muscle mass during weight loss, which may affect a significant portion of the population."

    To make this discovery, Pasiakos and colleagues assigned young men and women controlled diets for 31 days that provided dietary protein at three different levels: 1) the U.S. RDA, 2) twice the U.S. RDA, and 3) three times the U.S. RDA. Volunteers were given adequate total calories to maintain constant body weight for the first 10 days to allow their metabolism to adapt to the dietary protein level, and then for the following three weeks, weight loss was induced by restricting the total calories and increasing daily exercise sufficiently to elicit an average two-pound weight loss per week. All meals were prepared and administered by research staff and exercise was highly controlled. Body composition and measurements of muscle protein metabolism were performed at the end of both the stable weight maintenance and weight loss phases of the study. Results of this study demonstrated that there are limits to the protective effect of extra protein. As such, these data suggest an optimal, and perhaps maximal, level of protein for young, active adults who may undergo short-term periods of intentional or unintentional weight loss.

    "This study essentially confirms what body builders have shown us for a long time -- a high protein diet helps prevent muscle loss when trying to lose fat," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "Although eating a well balanced diet is still necessary for health and weight maintenance, upping one's protein intake when dieting might be a useful tool in the short term."
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    In case anyone was wondering, the RDA on protein for adults is 46g for women and 56g for men. For me, personally, the traditional "1g/lb of LBM" would require tripling that.
  • MercenaryNoetic26
    MercenaryNoetic26 Posts: 2,747 Member
    Bump
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,581 Member
    What I took from the overall article was that 1g of protein per lb of body weight (which is the generally accepted standard, from what I've seen) may not be necessary to build and/or maintain muscle, regardless of caloric intake.

    Lean Body Mass - NOT body weight.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    What I took from the overall article was that 1g of protein per lb of body weight (which is the generally accepted standard, from what I've seen) may not be necessary to build and/or maintain muscle, regardless of caloric intake.

    Lean Body Mass - NOT body weight.

    ^This.
  • DatMurse
    DatMurse Posts: 1,501 Member
    people overcomplicate it.
    you can shoot for .8g/lb I personally dont count, nor will I ever truly care to count. I always have a general idea of how I am eating, and am too lazy to track. I always have been lazy to track

    there is nothing wrong with excess protein.

    Each gram loses 25% of its calories to be metabolized by the body alone, 33% of that 3cals to be converted into glucose(if itsexcess).

    Its fine
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    bump
  • ssaraj43
    ssaraj43 Posts: 575 Member
    Bump
  • DatMurse
    DatMurse Posts: 1,501 Member
    this article has been posted over and over again, why do you want to bump this? ask a question
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    this article has been posted over and over again, why do you want to bump this? ask a question

    I already posted it, so figured I'd bump it to read as well...because why not. I have no more questions and nothing else to add. This seems to be only the second time it was posted, not exactly over and over.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    Op, I posted this also, you can read that thread for some more discussion on it: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1098365-how-much-protein-to-build-maintain-lbm
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