Fitness Inventor

Q: How much and how often should we take in protein?

A: There’s always some wise guy out there who, when you start talking about protein or meal timing, says something like, “all this talk about eating so much protein so often and at certain times is totally exaggerated.” To some extent this is true (well, the timing bit anyhow),
but what are the facts about optimal timing of protein intake?
 My “dieting” recommendations for protein intake are to maximize metabolism and prevent muscle breakdown more than anything else. A new study gives us some clues to what’s optimal for protein intake. When one of the world’s most eminent protein researchers (Dr. Stuart Phillips) and his research team gave guys 80 grams of whey protein as two 40-gram servings, four 20-gram servings, or eight 10-gram servings after a leg workout, they found differences in total muscle growth (measured by “net balance”). Interestingly, the pulse group (who got the eight 10-gram servings) showed the greatest protein synthesis but the highest rates of protein breakdown. The guys who got the big 40-gram servings had the least synthesis but also the least breakdown. The guys who got the four 20-gram servings showed good synthesis (better than the 40-gram group but not as good as the 8 × 10-gram group), but they had similar low rates of muscle breakdown to the 40-gram group. Muscle growth is measured by subtracting protein breakdown from protein synthesis (which equals “net balance”); thus the group whose muscles grew the most was the 4 × 20-gram group. Now these results don’t tell us the optimal timing and amount of protein we should all be taking in, but they do tell us that for whatever reason, very small amounts taken very often (e.g., 10 grams taken 8 times a day) isn’t the best way to grow muscle.

Also, the researchers note that the best explanation for these results is that the larger 20- and 40-gram servings of protein are more likely to be directed towards muscle tissue (which breaks down protein more slowly) and the smaller servings are more likely to be used up by the intestines and other organs (which take up amino acids and break down protein more quickly) rather than finding their way into muscle tissue. So what this study does tell us is that we probably want at least 20 grams of quality protein per serving and that we probably want to leave about three hours between servings (which agrees with the pulse theory of protein synthetic response). So I guess the boring conclusion
is that having five or six high-protein meals spaced throughout the day is best, which is what bodybuilders have already been doing for years!

For a killer chocolate cookie protein recipe, click here!