How Much Protein Can Your Body Digest? Testing the 20-Gram Rule

When thinking about optimizing your protein consumption, how much is too much? We’ve established that protein is a vital dietary fuel for all kinds of reasons. But, at some point, does eating protein have no additional benefit and is eating more simply “overfilling” your tank?

The idea that your body has limits on how much protein you can digest is based on the concept of muscle protein synthesis or MPS. Muscle protein synthesis is your body’s natural way of breaking down protein and using it to help repair the muscles in your body.

That’s because during exercise your body uses protein, something known as muscle protein breakdown (or MPB). The combination of muscle protein synthesis and muscle protein breakdown are important components of how you build muscle, and — more importantly for every exercise goal — how well you recover from exercise.

And, some research has suggested that 20 grams of protein is the sweet-spot for maximizing muscle protein synthesis.

Which leaves you with a very important question: how much protein can your body digest, and — at some point — is more protein too much and not really adding any benefit?

In this episode of That’s Healthy, Right? host Adam Bornstein weighs the comparison of protein to the gas you put in your car, how to maximize your post-workout intake, and the science behind whether or not you should restrict how much protein you eat per serving.

To ask a question, read the transcript, or learn more, visit bornfitness.com/thats-healthy-right.

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Resources:

• How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle building? Implications for daily protein distribution — Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition
• Per Meal Dose and Frequency of Protein Consumption Is Associated With Lean Mass and Muscle Performance — Journal of Clinical Nutrition
• Is there a maximal anabolic response to protein intake within a meal? — Journal of Clinical Nutrition
• Update on maximal anabolic response to dietary protein — Journal of Clinical Nutrition
• A high-protein diet for reducing body fat: mechanisms and possible caveats — Nutrition and Metabolism
• Nutritional interventions to augment resistance training-induced skeletal muscle hypertrophy — Frontiers in Physiology
• Timing and distribution of protein ingestion during prolonged recovery from resistance exercise alters myofibrillar protein synthesis — The Journal of Physiology
• A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression of the Effect of Protein Supplementation on Resistance Training-Induced Gains in Muscle Mass and Strength in Healthy Adults — British Journal of Sports Medicine
• Effect of Protein Overfeeding on Energy Expenditure Measured in a Metabolic Chamber — American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
• Effect of different protein sources on satiation and short-term satiety when consumed as a starter — Nutrition Journal