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For the protein pros out there...I am 40(unfortunately), 77inches tall and weigh 250 pounds...my post workout protein shake contains about 41 grams of whey protein(EAS brand) with one tsp. of creatine along with some frozen berries and water...my question is how much protein will my body absorb? Am i adding too much protein, meaning that some of those 41grams are not being taken in?? does anyone know what the max protein one can safely absorb at one time via a whey shake? Thanks in advance. I am on week 7 of the tnt workout...it works!!

jdub37 wrote:For the protein pros out there...I am 40(unfortunately), 77inches tall and weigh 250 pounds...my post workout protein shake contains about 41 grams of whey protein(EAS brand) with one tsp. of creatine along with some frozen berries and water...my question is how much protein will my body absorb? Am i adding too much protein, meaning that some of those 41grams are not being taken in?? does anyone know what the max protein one can safely absorb at one time via a whey shake? Thanks in advance. I am on week 7 of the tnt workout...it works!!

Well, you're not 41 or older, so each year is younger than the next.

I'm not an expert but I have learned and read that you don't need as much protein as is often claimed. Eat excess protein and you'll get fat all the same as sugar. The body will take what it needs and either store or waste the rest. Either way, it IS calories!!

A fairly recent study published in 2009 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that protein synthesis was maximally stimulated with 20g of post workout protein. It plateaued after that, taking 40g did not stimulate any more protein synthesis than 20g (not any less either).

So any protein you take after 20g in your post-workout shake will not do anything more for you than just add to your daily protein intake. If you are already eating enough protein for the day from food, you can cut that 40g protein shake in half and make that tub of powder last twice as long.

Here is a link to the research article if you would like to read it.

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/89/1/161

SurferX wrote:A fairly recent study published in 2009 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition...Here is a link to the research article if you would like to read it.http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/89/1/161

I love science. I average about 25-30 grams of protein in any meal. I guess I"m on target. Honestly, I had not significant gain by eating 1.5-2X my bodyweight in protein.

andrewpmast wrote:

SurferX wrote:A fairly recent study published in 2009 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition...Here is a link to the research article if you would like to read it.http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/89/1/161

I love science. I average about 25-30 grams of protein in any meal. I guess I"m on target. Honestly, I had not significant gain by eating 1.5-2X my bodyweight in protein.

Yes,that is correct. Humans body absorbing around 30g or protein per 1 meal. There is diferent story if you are steroids or insulin user. Then everything going up twice. Daily use aroud 3x you bodyweight of protein if you healthy ang 4 - 4.5 if you are steroids user.

From everything I've learned, the body can definitely absorb all the protein you give it in a meal and there is no hard limit. I suppose we would have to clarify what we mean be "absorb" as it could be taken in different ways.

If we want to ask, how much protein does it take to stimulate the maximum amount of protein synthesis in the body, that's one thing. However more protein than that will not simply pass through the system, it will still be absorbed by the body and undergo gluconeogenesis to be converted to glucose so that it can be utilized as energy in the body.

While 20-30g may be enough to maximize protein synthesis, there are still good reasons to consume more protein than that in a meal. There are only 3 calorie providing nutrients, carbs, protein, and fat. If you are only going to consume 20g of protein per meal, and you eat like 4-6 meals a day, that only makes up 320-480 calories. Assuming a 2500 calorie/day average, that's over 2000 calories you now have to get from carbs and fat. So you end up with a 60/20/20 split of carbs/fat/protein, a very typical low fat, high carb diet. Both GLAD and MANS use a different ratio of nutrients, so the protein as well as fat will obviously need to be increased if you want to drop the carbs.

I don't have science to base this on other than personal experience, but when I replaced much of the carbs with protein and some more fat, I found I was finally able to drop into the single digit fat percentage levels and have stayed there for over a year. My current ratio is about 20/40/40 of carbs/fat/protein and it has been something that has been easy enough to integrate into my lifestyle and stick with on a daily basis.

Good point surfer.... It might be hard to make up for the calories needed to supply basal metabolism, workout needs, etc... I suppose you could add some oils (fats). I love adding olive, flax to my shakes.

Well all carbs, you don't need like to store in your body and turning to fat. So I don't us them a lot. Fat is important, but not as much as protein and carbohydrates. But let's say gliucose release insulin, ad some gliucose to your shake and body will use more protein to build a muscles. Benefit is up to 50%, but you will get some fat with it is well. So you need to have 2 Seasons. Max building season and cuting. I do have those seasons and 10 - 11 meals each day. Last 3 months got 25kg on me. Now I'm cutting so everything is slower, but much nicer.

So SurferX, if you're diet is 60/20/20, how many grams of protein do you consume in each meal?

And how much protein in your post workout shake?

I do 30/30/40 (2200 cals) and have 40 grams for breakfast, last meal 25 grams and other meals around 37 grams. Post workout it's 38 grams.

I'm just wondering if this is way too much protein in my meals AND am I wasting protein powder - have I got it all wrong?

One last question - how many shakes per day? I try to do 1, but it would be a lot easier doing 2 - is this bad?