Protein absorbtion rate

**jkoehn1** · 08-11-2004, 03:53 PM

How much protein (whey) from a shake can one absorb? Am I wasting my time doubling up on the amount I am taking, which is around 80grams? Also, how long before one can dring another shake and absorb all the protein?

**sinista63** · 08-11-2004, 04:27 PM

i always heard 50grams is a good rule of thumb but i don't know if there is any actual science behind this. the digestion of and absorption of protein isn't as fast as carbohydrates but it still relatively quick (but this is somewhat dependant on the source/type of protein). i would say 3 hours is a pretty good measure of time between protein intakes.

**nsa** · 08-11-2004, 06:19 PM

All of this depends. Depends on your LBM weight and what kind of protein your taking. Casein takes longer than whey to digest. You can absorb more protein when you have more LBM weight. Ron coleman has like 100g of protein in most of his meals.

**sinista63** · 08-11-2004, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by nsa

All of this depends. Depends on your LBM weight and what kind of protein your taking. Casein takes longer than whey to digest. You can absorb more protein when you have more LBM weight. Ron coleman has like 100g of protein in most of his meals.

that is a good point. i would also say that your overall size (ie height) could determine how much you can take in at once. being larger should correlate to a longer intestinal tract which would lead to a greater number of amino acid and peptide transporters available.

**DevilsDeity** · 08-11-2004, 06:42 PM

ok then im 6' 2" 200lbs
im taking 20-40g every hour-2 hours
that sound about right?

**sinista63** · 08-11-2004, 06:58 PM

thats really tough to say. i don't know of any real formula to calculate the amount you should take every X hours based on the above mentioned variables. my best advice is to take your daily protein intake and try to divide it somewhat evenly over 5-8 meals (or however many times you're taking food/protein shakes in per day). maybe others have better thoughts/theories on this but its the strategy that i've employed.

**DBarcelo** · 08-11-2004, 09:50 PM

The max that a person can absorb is 60 grams per meal. That's for a large, full grown adult male. 50 grams per meal is for the average sized adult. So, 80 grams at a time is a waste.

**nsa** · 08-11-2004, 10:46 PM

Originally Posted by DBarcelo

The max that a person can absorb is 60 grams per meal. That's for a large, full grown adult male. 50 grams per meal is for the average sized adult. So, 80 grams at a time is a waste.

This is incorrect in some cases. It depends on your LBM weight. If you have 300 Pounds of LBM then you can absorb more than 60g protein. But for the most part people can only absorb 60g of protein, if that.

**DBarcelo** · 08-12-2004, 11:13 AM

Originally Posted by nsa

This is incorrect in some cases. It depends on your LBM weight. If you have 300 Pounds of LBM then you can absorb more than 60g protein. But for the most part people can only absorb 60g of protein, if that.

What I wrote is what I meant. The average person can absorb about 50 grams of protein at one time and a large person (300lbs is large) can absorb about 55 grams of protein at one time. The maximum amount that a person can absorb is 60 grams at one time. If you weight 600 lbs, your body isn't absorbing any more than 60 grams of protein at one time. You can injest 1000grams of protein at one time, but your body isn't going to absorb it. I will admit that no studies (that I know of) were done on the morbidly obese or the extremely muscular, but as the research stands now, it is clinically accepted that 60 grams is the maximum human potential for the absorbtion of protein.

**DBarcelo** · 08-12-2004, 11:15 AM

Before you even bring Coleman into it, just because he ingests 100 grams of protein at a time doesn't mean his body is actually absorbing it all. I'm sure he only does that to make sure that his body is getting the maximum amount of protien that it can possible absorb and he doesn't care that he's crapping out half of it.

**biglouie250** · 08-12-2004, 12:12 PM

Originally Posted by DBarcelo

The max that a person can absorb is 60 grams per meal. That's for a large, full grown adult male. 50 grams per meal is for the average sized adult. So, 80 grams at a time is a waste.

im not sure i agree with this. the human body is great at adapting to situations it gets presented with, im sure you can train your body to handle more protein intake in one sitting. i mean the first time you drank beer it only took a few to get hammered, but your body adapts and you build a tolerance to it....

**GQSuperman** · 08-12-2004, 12:23 PM

that the beer analogy isn't a good one. you learn to handle yourself once you drink. i don't think you can really "train" your body to handle more protein. it's a physiological system. it can use one energy source over another, depending on what its presented with, and may become more effecient at processing substances, but i don't know if you can "train" your body to digest more protein. i think this is probrably set and is determined by your size.

i could be wrong though.

**DBarcelo** · 08-12-2004, 10:40 PM

Originally Posted by biglouie250

im not sure i agree with this. the human body is great at adapting to situations it gets presented with, im sure you can train your body to handle more protein intake in one sitting. i mean the first time you drank beer it only took a few to get hammered, but your body adapts and you build a tolerance to it....

It's not a matter of adaptability. Enzymes are used to absorb protein. Receptors in the digestive system are needed to transport protein into the circulatory system out of the digestive system. These levels just don't change much during a person's life. If you put on 500 lbs of muscle, your body will try to absorb more protein because it knows it needs it, but your body has a hard time with doing that because you only have but so many receptors and it can't really grow any more receptors than what it already has. If we could, we wouldn't all shrink up so quick after we work so hard to put on all of that extra muscle mass. Our body would just start absorbing more protein and we would be able to keep our gains. But, that's not what happens, so we shrink up.

**kman** · 08-12-2004, 10:41 PM

I don't stop thinking about protein so there is no need for me to calculate my intake?? ahhhhhhhhhh.............

**DBarcelo** · 08-12-2004, 10:43 PM

Originally Posted by kman

I don't stop thinking about protein so there is no need for me to calculate my intake?? ahhhhhhhhhh.............

Most people shoot for 1 gram per lb. Larger people shoot for 2grams per lb per day. No need to go crazy calculating stuff, but just try not to go over 50 grams at one time.

**DBarcelo** · 08-12-2004, 10:44 PM

I really didn't understand that question, but I tried.

**nsa** · 08-13-2004, 08:28 PM

Don't forget that different protein soucres digest at different rates. So you could take 50 grams of whey protein and 50g of protein from lean beef or chicken and absorb over 50g of protein from one meal, It will be over a period of time but you can eat both sources of protein at the same time.

**DBarcelo** · 08-14-2004, 11:23 PM

You can eat both sources of protein at the same time and yes, a slow moving protein source like steak will allow more to be absorbed before it leaves the intestine, but that is still technically not happening at one time, the initial digestion would happen right away and why your body is able to start obsorbing protein again, the steak would be near the middle of the intestinal tract (at least), and then it would start to obsorb the protein again. A fast moving protein source like a whey shake would be expelled out of the intestinal tract before the body would be ready to start absorbing protein again.