How much protein can the human body absorb in one sitting?

[zackrock]

My question is just that. How much protein can the body digest in one sitting? And how often can you intake more protein?

For example, say I have a protein shake with 34g of protein, can I have another and still absorb all 68g of protein or do I need to wait a certain amount of time and if so, how long? Thanks!

How much protein can the body digest?

[goldy]

it really depends on weight\size and your lifestyle. 68G would be pushing it unless you are 250 lb's or higher and were a bodybuilding monster. fatty mc fat fat that doesnt move wont absorb protein like a bodybuilder or a athlete.

[Dangling Unit]

Are there any scientific studies on this?

[goldy]

Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition | Full text | An open label study to determine the effects of an oral proteolytic enzyme system on whey protein concentrate metabolism in healthy males
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition | Full text | International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Protein and Exercise.
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition | Full text | Protein and Overtraining: Potential Applications for Free-Living Athletes
Protein, body weight, and cardiovascular health — Am J Clin Nutr

They have a lot of good articles.

[marx]

****, it won't let me rep you or give you a thank you goldy, I've done too many in the last 24 hours.

Well done though, thanks

[admin]

****, it won't let me rep you or give you a thank you goldy, I've done too many in the last 24 hours.

Well done though, thanks

That is a great set of resources. I opened that daily rep limit up a little more for you marx....

[Hanniballickedher]

I think I can get about 65g per sitting, I am 275-280lbs though and workout 6 days a week, anything over that I shit out and I can tell when it is.

[Seabass]

It also varies widely on when you eat it and what exactly it is. Your body will soak up whey iso 5 minutes after hard core training, but won't as much on beef for lunch.

[big_paul_ski]

it really depends on weight\size and your lifestyle. 68G would be pushing it unless you are 250 lb's or higher and were a bodybuilding monster. fatty mc fat fat that doesnt move wont absorb protein like a bodybuilder or a athlete.

wow! your stock is rising. that was the perfect answer. i didnt expect to see that. great post!

[pux888]

For me personally anything over 40 grams in a shake starts to screw with my digestion, I feel the body can better utilize real food better then any shake. I can eat a monster steak and be good to go. Also the more protein you eat, the more good flora there will be in your digestive system. People that go on low protein diets or vegans will loose these digestive enzymes over time and have a hard time processing protein. I feel the more protein you consume the better your body gets at assimilating the nutrients.

[goldy]

Thanks brother!

I take digestive enzymes with every meal(when i remember). Davinci labs' all zyme is the brand i take, love their stuff where applicable.
Amazon.com: Davinci Labs - All-Zyme - 90: Health & Personal Care

[goldy]

For me personally anything over 40 grams in a shake starts to screw with my digestion, I feel the body can better utilize real food better then any shake. I can eat a monster steak and be good to go. Also the more protein you eat, the more good flora there will be in your digestive system. People that go on low protein diets or vegans will loose these digestive enzymes over time and have a hard time processing protein. I feel the more protein you consume the better your body gets at assimilating the nutrients.

Just curious what kind of protein powder it is. I am assuming there is whey concentrate in there somewhere which is causing issues. i drink 50G 100% pure whey isolate shakes with no issues.

[MAYO]

To the OP....its going to vary with body type and activity level.
Usually when people ask this question, the user is referring to shakes or whey. Not too many guys wanna know just how much dry-ass chicken they can eat in one sitting. So lets take a closer look. The body absorbs nearly ALL the protein that you eat regardless of speed and quantity. However, the body utilizes only a fraction of the protein ingested for muscle synthesis. Protein is not used in whole form. Your body doesn't take a lactalbumin protein molecule from whey and splice it into your bicep. The protein undergoes hydolysis and is broken down into amino acids. Think of amino acids as the body's alphabet. The body can combine and arrange different sequences and quantities of amino acids to produce a nearly limitless number of proteins, the same way we make words from letters. BCAAs(branch chain amino acids) are like the vowels of this alphabet. BCAAs are used in a disproportionately larger number than the other amino acids, especially in muscle building. Whey, Egg, Meat, and even gay-ass Soy are all relatively rich in BCAAs and are thus good muscle building protein. Back to the topic...... So we have a large shake of protein and the small intestine sucks it all up. Hydrolysis breaks all the protein down to amino acid components. Then the body takes what it needs for maintenance and various tissue synthesis, including your precious muscles. What happens to the rest? Here comes the bad news...it turns into fat. Bullshit you say....no tub-tub, watch and learn. Excess aminos are difficult to store so the handy-dandy liver snatches them up and sends them through a complicated process called "gluconeogenesis." Literally, "to create new glucose." The body then takes the glucose produced and does this: glucose -> pyruvate -> acetyl~CoA ->(by Acetyl CoA carboxylase) -> malonyl~CoA -> fatty acids. And then those fatty acids go hang out behind your belly button or in your ass cheeks. The moral of the story, IMHO of course, whey is good for pre or post workout when a large influx of aminos is beneficial to the body. Unless you are way over your genetic limit in terms of muscle mass, I would restrict whey consumption to "as needed" and stick to whole food. "But, but, but I can't eat that much chicken." Ya, you can. Slow and steady is the name of the game. Eat small portions of high protein, low fat meats throughout the day. Lack of fat makes for speedy gastric emptying so you don't feel full for very long. The meats, being natural-state tissue are in different levels of protein structure ranging from primary(fast absorbing) to quarternary(slow absorbing). This gives the body a steady stream of aminos rather than large bursts that cannot be expedited quickly enough and are converted to glucose.

[pux888]

Nice post Mayo, you are spot on brother.

Edit: Its also nice to see someone use some proper terminology!

[pux888]

Just curious what kind of protein powder it is. I am assuming there is whey concentrate in there somewhere which is causing issues. i drink 50G 100% pure whey isolate shakes with no issues.

Your correct, I have been using GNC branded protein which has a concentrate and an isolate combined for years. I try my best to get the vast majority of my protein from food.