protein absorption

[Necroticism]

ive heard talk that ones body can only absorb 40 grams of protein per hour. I was wondering if this is indeed true, and if it is, a source would be greatly appreciated.

[bound]

Bloody hell. I've heard that this is just one of those fitness myths that started back in the 70s/80s when one of the top competitors stated it for some reason or other. Thing is, I can NEVER remember his name. UGH.

On another note, the whole thing just doesn't make sense to me. There are just too many factors that could be affecting protein absorbtion to make such a sweeping, generalized statement. Such as:

40 grams max for that 12-year-old girl everyone is always referencing in arguements like this, versus the 250 pound bodybuilder. OBVIOUSLY, both can only potentially absorb 40 grams, no more.

How long is YOUR intestine? Let's see it, I bet mine's longer. But intestinal length or stomach size could never come into it.

What's your body type? Meso's and Ecto's have no difference in ability to absorb protein, duh. And of course genetic differences or race could never effect it.

Doesn't matter what the rest of your diet is like, only 40 grams, buster. Don't care how healthy or unhealthy your digestive tract is, you'll only ever get forty grams.

Also, who cares how often your '40 grams in one sitting' is, still 40 grams max, one hour between, or 10.

Sorry if the sarcasm is out of hand, but I hate crap like this, that just gets repeated so many times that people just take it as truth without ever stopping to think about it, just because of the sheer number of times we hear it. How many other myths and generalizations do we complain about on AM? This is just one more.

(rant over)


(oh, this rant was in no way directed at you, Necroticism, just at the state of things at large. I really appreciate your contributions to the community.)


Hey, I just noticed the "per hour" part. I don't think I've ever heard that tacked on, but maybe I have. Given the 16 hours we're wanting to be awake, that's 640 grams per day. I don't know about you, but I'm certainly cool with THAT.

[EasyEJL]

25 g of cooked egg white is gone out of your bloodstream in an hour. Most other whole food proteins tho as bound said take more time to digest + get absorbed. so you can take in a meal with 60g and still have some in bloodstream 3 hours later.

[Neil5585]

bound, for some reason I think it was Lou Ferrigno that said that.

[bound]

bound, for some reason I think it was Lou Ferrigno that said that.

THAT's who it was. Thank you.

[Hurleyboy05]

what about 40 lbs of protein??

[asianbabe]

ive heard talk that ones body can only absorb 40 grams of protein per hour. I was wondering if this is indeed true, and if it is, a source would be greatly appreciated.

What you need to do babe is go to wherever you heard "talk" about this and ask them to cite a source, not the other way around

[Birdsizzle]

I don't know about a specific amount that can be absorbed per hour. There are established limits to the amount of protein that can be absorbed by the gut on a daily basis however. I apologize for not having that information on hand but I will try to locate it.

The majority of weightlifters/bb'ers take in far more protein than they need or can use. Obviously every individual is unique so there is no magic number per say... However the established diatetic recommendations for strength training are 1.2-2.0 g pro/Kg. Somewhere down the line of information someone confused this recommendation and substituted of for lb's. This is incorrect and results in severe overkill.

I feel people mistakenly place an overstated emphasis on protein while ignoring the macronutrient that really plays a larger role in successful strength/size training: carbohydrates.

Eating too much protein probably won't kill you but there are dangers associated with long and even short term overconsumption. A few examples are diuresis (increased urine volume), potential dehydration, inadequate CHO intake, and possibly hypercalciuria (excessive urinary calcium excretion).

More than anything else, taking in amounts far above recommended levels is a waste of money at best.

Please excuse any grammatical errors, this post was penned from my iPhone.

[Necroticism]

What you need to do babe is go to wherever you heard "talk" about this and ask them to cite a source, not the other way around

i would love to do that, but i heard this info here a few months ago, and the subject recently came up. i tried a search and came up with nothing so i posted this hoping somebody who knew of this would chime in.

[CryingEmo]

I don't know about a specific amount that can be absorbed per hour. There are established limits to the amount of protein that can be absorbed by the gut on a daily basis however. I apologize for not having that information on hand but I will try to locate it.

The majority of weightlifters/bb'ers take in far more protein than they need or can use. Obviously every individual is unique so there is no magic number per say... However the established diatetic recommendations for strength training are 1.2-2.0 g pro/Kg. Somewhere down the line of information someone confused this recommendation and substituted of for lb's. This is incorrect and results in severe overkill.

I feel people mistakenly place an overstated emphasis on protein while ignoring the macronutrient that really plays a larger role in successful strength/size training: carbohydrates.

Eating too much protein probably won't kill you but there are dangers associated with long and even short term overconsumption. A few examples are diuresis (increased urine volume), potential dehydration, inadequate CHO intake, and possibly hypercalciuria (excessive urinary calcium excretion).

More than anything else, taking in amounts far above recommended levels is a waste of money at best.

Please excuse any grammatical errors, this post was penned from my iPhone.

You must hate low carb/ high fat high protein diets like the Anabolic Diet and its variants.

[Neil5585]

I don't know about a specific amount that can be absorbed per hour. There are established limits to the amount of protein that can be absorbed by the gut on a daily basis however. I apologize for not having that information on hand but I will try to locate it.

The majority of weightlifters/bb'ers take in far more protein than they need or can use. Obviously every individual is unique so there is no magic number per say... However the established diatetic recommendations for strength training are 1.2-2.0 g pro/Kg. Somewhere down the line of information someone confused this recommendation and substituted of for lb's. This is incorrect and results in severe overkill.

I feel people mistakenly place an overstated emphasis on protein while ignoring the macronutrient that really plays a larger role in successful strength/size training: carbohydrates.

Eating too much protein probably won't kill you but there are dangers associated with long and even short term overconsumption. A few examples are diuresis (increased urine volume), potential dehydration, inadequate CHO intake, and possibly hypercalciuria (excessive urinary calcium excretion).

More than anything else, taking in amounts far above recommended levels is a waste of money at best.

Please excuse any grammatical errors, this post was penned from my iPhone.

People with vast experience noticed that when gaining muscle 2-2.25g/POUND works. Period. They're not noticing negative health impact, either.

[EasyEJL]

Sure, but how much of that is just from that extra 200g of protein providing energy + total cals? I really can't see how that much is necessary, given that there is only 160g of protein in a lb of muscle. a 10% bf 200lb male has 180lbs of lean mass, about 40lbs of which is skeleton, plus there are all the non muscle organs, etc. So i'm going to ballpark at less than 100lbs of muscle. At just 1g/lb of bodyweight during maintenance, that is enough to turn over ENTIRE muscle mass in 80 days - all existing protein flushed, new for all. at 2g/day, thats enough to see 1% gain muscle per day if it was all getting used for actually building muscle.

So i'm pretty sure that even if that 2g/lb worked, it would have worked just as well at 1g/lb, at the same total calories.

[RoidRageX10]

So basically, theres no "need" to take in 2g of protein/lb? If so, I'll just eat extra carbs and keep the protein at a healthier level. I have also read that many bodybuilders eat too much protein and it is a waste.

People that take in 2.25g/lb might be ok now, but what could happen in the long run?

[Hurleyboy05]

This is a bit off topic, but does this mean the guys slammin down massive amounts of protein shakes while on the Velocity Diet are spiking their protein levels off the charts - thus making that diet semi-ridiculous?

[EasyEJL]

not really, cause it is aimed at providing I think just 1g/lb. That is a 1200-1500 cal a day diet. and with the fish oils, fiber, etc, I think its only around 200g of protein a day, with the other 400+ cal coming from fats + carbs.

I don't know that 2g/lb is bad, i just very much doubt its significantly different than 1g/lb with same cals.

[Distilled Water]

This summer I'll be doing up to about 2gr/lb bodyweight. On a modified CKD with lots of Biotin and Betaine HCL

[Neil5585]

I don't think Poliquin and others would be so dumb as to suggest more protein if it were just calories doing it.

[AM07]

I remember reading that the body can absorb 47.369 grams of protein every 2 hours. Anything over, and it gets converted to ass bombs.

[bound]

I think that as far as protein needs go, there seems to be a lot of anecdotal evidence that 2 g/lb+ seems to enhance mass gains. One thing that I question is the quality of much of the protein that we take in. I think some of the high intakes may just be providing a lot of quality proteins that our bodies can just use better.

As far as the high protein diets like the Anabolic/Metabolic diet, the goal isn't to take in tons of protein, it's to manipulate hormones and energy use by the body( you all know that, I'm just throwing it in here for reference) If you aren't taking in carbs( or very low amounts of carbs) the cals have to come from somewhere.

[skunkman]

I would have to agree that at a certain point your body is not digesting all the protein one ingests. Obviously several factors are to be taken in to account. At what point you are waisting money (protein is expensive!) I don't know. I came across this article a couple weeks ago by Ron Kosloff. Apparently he's kinda Vince's protege[sp?].

I can't link it as the site is a competitor but google:

vince gironda bodybuilding

and it's the third article down. He starts talking about supplemental ways to increase the amount of protein someone can ingest in one meal. I should read again myself.