When and how often should you consume protein? You probably heard the age old advice that you should eat six meals throughout the day to constantly supply your muscle with enough protein that it doesn't break down. The idea is that while our bodies can store dietary fat, and carbohydrates, it can store excess protein. That's why for us bodybuilders religiously plan their meals and always had a protein shake or protein bar with them to avoid going into a catabolic state where your body breaks down muscle tissue. However, today, we know that even though the body can store excess protein, it's a lot smarter than many people think. And you don't have to eat six meals to grow and maintain muscle tissue, nor do you have to time them perfectly three hours apart.
Let me explain. When it comes to protein timing, our one and only goal is to create a continual supply of amino acids from digested protein into the bloodstream to avoid muscle breakdown. The one important variable we To look at here is protein digestion. Protein digestion describes how fast or slow the consumed food is actually broken down into amino acids and absorbed by our stomach. How long This process takes depends on three factors protein type, meal size, and fat and fiber content. Let's look at each of them in more detail.
Protein type, the fastest digesting protein is way which can clear the GI tract in under an hour. whole food proteins are next in line which includes most kinds of chicken breast, lean beef, and fish. These proteins take several hours to be absorbed by the GI tract, releasing a steady stream of amino acids into the blood the whole time. last on the list are dairy products, particularly because of the casein content which slowly digest over the course of up to seven hours. Meal size because our stomach requires a certain time to break down and absorb food. The simple addition of more food complex On the digestion time of any protein source in that food, the protein and a normal whey protein shake will usually be digested within the hour.
If you add to that shake some oatmeal, the same protein will be digested a lot slower, even more protein itself. For example, an eight ounce steak versus a four ounce steak can delay absorption times. fat and fiber content. Both fat and fiber will problem the digestion of proteins to a considerable extent. For example, a large fatty steak can take as long to digest as a casein source, which means longer than seven hours. Now with this in mind, what is the bottom line on meal frequency when it comes to protein?
First, your goal is to maintain a continuous supply of amino acids to the muscle. Second, there are different ways of achieving this. You can eat six smaller meals and simply follow the old bodybuilder advice. But you can also just eat three meals as long They are large enough to cover both your daily protein needs and are slowly digested. Now, I probably wouldn't go lower than two meals per day, but I doubt that you would want this anyway. Okay, so what about protein timing when it comes to your workouts?
The evidence on this is inconclusive. Some studies show a positive effect of post workout protein on protein synthesis, and others find no such relation. Overall, it seems that as long as you meet your daily calorie and nutritional requirements through your normal diet, you don't have to drink a protein shake right before or after your workout, like many people think what you want to do instead is to get your pre and post meals right, which is something we will cover in a later list. Lastly, what about before your sleep? I personally in a fairly large meal for dinner and drink half protein shake before bed. But if you eat very little or no protein for dinner, then a slow digesting protein like casein might be a good idea.
Boys before bed