Protein ?

[WildTigerEyes7]

Someone @ work told me that your body can only absorb "x" amount of protein at a time (can't remember the amount she said) - so that it doesn't do any good to eat over this amount in one sitting b/c your body won't be able to absorb the excesss?

True or untrue? If true, what's the amount?

Thanks!
Tigs

[MissSTK]

I would think it's untrue, but let me look around before I say for sure.

*Forever STK's LiL Lady*
***May you forever rest in peace baby***
~~~RIP STK 1972-2003~~~
He truly was God's greatest creation

[MissSTK]

Subject-Protein Absorption
Date-1/13/2003
Author-Rod Ferris CPT, CPAFLA

There has been substantial talk about which foods will absorb the most, how much protein to have, and when to have it. The bottom line is that your body cannot absorb more than it can use. Extra will either get stored as fat or be excreted. Excess amino acids have no effect on protein breakdown at rest, but with weight training protein breakdown is slowed; therefore, increasing your odds for muscle growth. Take note that in the absence of food intake your body will go in a state of net catabolism. Thus, for hypertrophy the idea is to ingest as much food in the right ratio of Pro:Carbs:Fat in as many time periods as possible. This will help keep your metabolism at an optimal throughout the day. As for post workout meals a combination of protein and carbohydrates 4 hours before and immediately (20 minutes) after a workout is the best combination for increasing muscular size (Hypertrophy). The research concludes that it is very important to ingest your protein and carbohydrates immediately after exercise. It has been shown to have the maximal uptake due to the blood circulation from your workout.

Recommended intakes:
Sedentary Person: 0.8 grams per kg bodyweight
Endurance Athletes: 1.8-2.0 grams per kg bodyweight
Resistance Trainers: 1.8 grams per kg bodyweight

Best Sources of Protein and Rating:
Eggs 100
Fish 70 (Salmon is the best)
Cow's Milk 60
Lean Beef 69
Soybeans 47
Dry Beans 34
Peanuts 43
Whole-grain Wheat 44
Brown Rice 57
White Rice 56
White Potato 34
(The rating means the percent of amino acids in the food that your body will actually use.)

The best plan of action is to have around 6 meals per day with 17% protein (daily caloric intake) to increase the amount of protein absorption, increase synthesis and decrease protein breakdown.

*Forever STK's LiL Lady*
***May you forever rest in peace baby***
~~~RIP STK 1972-2003~~~
He truly was God's greatest creation

[jjfigure]

True - amount you can absorb depends on type of protein, but it's usually in a range of 30-50 grams a meal. However, it is harder for your body to digest protein than carbs or fat, so you get a thermogenic boost when eating protein. So, if I have a choice between eating excess carbs, fat, or protein, I usually choose the protein. Plus, I just like protein. :-)

Keep in mind, any macronutrient eaten in excess will either be stored as fat or excreted.

[WildTigerEyes7]

Thanks everyone!

So do you think that if you sit down w/ an 8oz steak (calorieking.com shows 8oz as having 81g of protein)- that only 50g of the protein would be absorbed & the rest would be turned to fat or something?

[jjfigure]

Some will go to fat, and some will be excreted. Keep in mind, steak has a lower protein assimilation rate than an egg - I believe it's 85% or so. I don't have time to look it up right now, but maybe I will later. Anyway, if you're only assimilating 85% of that 8 oz steak, you're already down to ~69 grams of protein. Plus, it also depends on the cut of steak. For a london broil, I figure 9 grams of pro/oz - and that's one of the leanner cuts of beef. 9*8=72*.85=61 grams of pro - so you're closer to that 50 grams than you thought. :-)

[jjfigure]

MissSTK had posted the protein absorptions already - silly me. So, figuring 9 grams of pro per ounce of london broil, protein absorption for 8 oz would be 9 * 8 = 72; 72 * 0.69 = 49.68.

So, you would absorb about 50 grams of pro from eating an 8 oz portion of lean beef. Unfortunately, you took in the same number of kcals regardless of whether or not you absorbed the protein. That makes those eggs look quite attractive - more bang for the buck.

[Ceara]

MissSTK, JJ, or anyone else for that matter:

Thanks for posting that article; I enjoyed it!

Do you by chance have a link to some more in-depth info regarding protein assimilation?

Reason being, I'd like to see a more complete list of sources and assimilation rates
because curiosity is killing the cat here!

I'm interested in looking up a few additional proteins that I consume frequently, but had no luck locating any info or databases on Google.

[MissSTK]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ceara:
MissSTK, JJ, or anyone else for that matter:

Thanks for posting that article; I enjoyed it!

Do you by chance have a link to some more in-depth info regarding protein assimilation?

Reason being, I'd like to see a more complete list of sources and assimilation rates
because curiosity is killing the cat here!

I'm interested in looking up a few additional proteins that I consume frequently, but had no luck locating any info or databases on Google.[/quote]

I got that one off of myfit.com and they had a ton of them, so I am sure that you will be able to find anything that you're lookin for there. Hope it help.

*Forever STK's LiL Lady*
***May you forever rest in peace baby***
~~~RIP STK 1972-2003~~~
He truly was God's greatest creation