I've read exactly the same thing, but I have to say that this doesn't make too much sense to me. Whey protein is absorbed instantly, while casein and most animal proteins (with the exception of raw eggwhite) take longer to digest and absorb (slow release). So in essence, 3/4 hours after we eat meat/casein(via milk or yoghurt) it starts to be absorbed by our bodies. Then surely it means that our body can only absorb X amount of Animal protein every 4 hours? Or is it if we send food down 1 hour apart they'll be absorbed 4 ours later than ingestion, but still an hour apart from each other...? I don't understand it.
My own reasoning to your question- with regards to this thread in particular, the raw egg protein would absorb much faster than the casein, up to 2 hours before. Therefore, eating the slow and fast proteins together could technically count as two portions spaced out from each other. (Although this is arguable, considering they get blended and esentially infused with one another.)
Importantly, not every gram of protein will be absorbed by the body, even if we only ate 20g of fast protein (e.g. whey) an hour, it wouldn't all be absorbed. So if we make more protein available to our digestive system the likelihood of giving our body an adequate amount of protein is much higher. What's the risk of eating too much? Crapping it out.
Some say we're putting strain on our kidneys, but I went to the doctor a while ago and asked about the risks of eating a lot of protein. She said there were none if you were a healthy individual to start with.
I hope this sort of helps, I'm sorry that I don't completely know what I'm talking about. Hopefully an expert can chime in. If you find that link then definitely post it, would be worth a read.
Reuben Bajada:
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The biggest protein myth is that you can only digest 30 grams of protein at one time. Find out what's wrong with this belief and just how much protein you need. This is a common question. I also get variations such as, how much protein can you digest at one time?
There are two ways to answer this, because there really two questions being asked.
How much protein can the digestive system physically absorb into the bloodstream from a meal?
THE MORE IMPORTANT QUESTION...
How much protein can you body actually utilize?
The answers...
About 95% and higher, unless you have some type of digestive system malfunction.
So if you get convinced by supplement companies to drink a 42g protein shake in 5 minutes, you'll still probably absorb at 38 or more grams of that protein.
Your muscle growth is not limited by the amount of protein you can DIGEST or ABSORB.
Your muscle growth IS LIMITED by the amount of protein that your body can utilize for protein synthesis.
So the answer to #2...
A lot less than you think.
You really don't need 40, or 30, or probably even 20g of protein per meal to keep your protein synthesis humming along. Any protein that your body can't use for growth will be shuttled into a process where it is broken down (de-aminated: meaning the nitrogen is removed from the molecule and it becomes a carbon skeleton) to be used in energy pathways.
Now, there are benefits for eating extra protein (in my opinion) when dieting, mainly that it helps to suppress appetite.
But the bottom line to the question I am asked almost everyday is...
A. Your body can digest and absorb almost all of the protein you eat without problem.
B. Your muscles can only do so much with protein...the muscle growth process is RARELY, if ever limited by the amount of protein we consume. Almost all of us can easily get enough protein for maximum muscle growth without the need for eating 50g of protein 6 times per day. Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, and Gunter Schlerkcamp excluded, of course.
I couldn't find that article though i found this and thought id post it just to maybe clear things up a bit but i think this topic could go into alot more detail. I also read about the kidney thing though it went on to say if you have no kidney problems to begin with then you wont have any while taking x amount of protein. Maybe its better just to take a bit more i would rather take more protein and have wastage than not take enough and not have results.