30g protein maximum per meal?

PollyDraper · February 2021

I've just been informed that if If you consume more than 30 grams of protein in a sitting then any protein above that amount will be converted to fat (regardless of total calorie consumption). Is there any merit in this?

cmriverside · February 2021

No.

PollyDraper · February 2021

This is the advice from Men's Health on the subject:
Reframe how you think about protein, especially if you’re trying to build muscle. Instead of eating 60 grams of protein during three meals a day, trying eating 25 to 35 grams of protein four or more times a day.

Youngfrankenstein · February 2021

I'm curious about this as well. I learned most of my knowledge back in the 90s so I need an update. Back then the wisdom was that you couldn't absorb more than 20g of protein at a time. I'd love to know current guidelines.

PollyDraper · February 2021

I found a paper on the subject, but don't fully understand it.
https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-018-0215-1#:~:text=Based on the current evidence,1.6 g/kg/day.

PollyDraper · February 2021

This (paper) is to do with muscle-building, though.
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.

mpkpbk2015 · February 2021

Here is a protein calculator link https://www.trifectanutrition.com/protein-calculator

PollyDraper · February 2021

mpkpbk2015 wrote: »

Here is a protein calculator link https://www.trifectanutrition.com/protein-calculator

Thanks, but this doesn't address the question of optimum protein intake per sitting.

tinkerbellang83 · February 2021

I often get over 40g Protein per meal and still lost weight as expected, so anecdotally I can confirm I'm not gaining fat as a result of eating more protein.

I find this guy's musings on the subject pretty well thought out:

https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/how-much-protein-per-meal/

lemurcat2 · February 2021

It's really two separate questions:

(1) Will consuming more than 30 g of protein at a meal cause fat gain, regardless of total calories consumed. The answer to that is clearly no. How would it even work?

(2) Is there a benefit to eating less than 30 g of protein in a bunch of mini meals rather than more than 30 g in 3 (or fewer) meals for maximum muscle gain. The answer to that is maybe, but it probably depends on the source of the protein. If you are using protein shakes for much of your protein and specifically around a workout, you might not get much benefit from anything over 30 g, as it is fast acting protein and will be used for some other purpose if it's not available when the muscles would use it. But even that seems to depend. In general, lots of sources of protein are slower acting (like meat) and you don't have to be able to use them all at once or eat around the time of a workout. This is also why people who intermittent fast or do 1 meal a day don't lose lots of muscle. For maximum muscle building, they might not be ideal, however (although IME it's likely because it's easier to get more protein with more meals -- I switched from 3/day to 2, and do find I have to pay more attention to meet my protein goal.

If you eat more protein than your body can use for muscle building in a day (as many likely do), you don't thus get fat. That still depends on calories.

Psychgrrl · February 2021

PollyDraper wrote: »

I've just been informed that if If you consume more than 30 grams of protein in a sitting then any protein above that amount will be converted to fat (regardless of total calorie consumption). Is there any merit in this?

That’s not correct. Calories you consume over what you need to maintain (based on calories in/calories out) regardless of the nutritional source are stored as fat.

Courtscan2 · February 2021

No. Why would our bodies evolve that way? When protein was SOOOO hard to source during our hunter/gatherer days, why would your body just stop using it after 30g, and convert it to storage when calories for energy and protein for muscle building/repair/million other things were in short order?

Justin_7272 · February 2021

The 30g/meal number is from studies based on how much protein can be converted for purposes of MPS (Muscle protein synthesis). Essentially, they found-loosely-that MPS caps at around 30g/meal (30g/1.5 hours). It doesn't mean the rest is converted to fat; rather, instead of being used for muscle repair/building, it is used by other parts of the body. Their is a certain amount (varies by person) of protein per hour that can be used by the body for MPS. The idea is to spread protein intake throughout the day to maximize your body's ability to use protein for MPS. This has everything to do with bodybuilding/strength training, etc., and nothing to do with weight gain/loss.

30g protein maximum per meal?

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