 |
| Advertisement |
How often should you eat protein if your goal is to maximize muscle gains? If you’ve been persuaded by some of the latest trendy diets like time-restricted feeding or intermittent fasting, you might think protein frequency and distribution doesn’t matter. Just hit your protein goal for the whole day and you’re golden. This, unfortunately for muscle mass seekers, is false.
If your goal is strictly weight loss, it’s true that protein timing is not as high a priority. But if your goal is gaining muscle size, eating too infrequently, taking prolonged fasts, or unevenly distributing your protein can hold back your gains. Looking at how the most muscular bodybuilders have eaten for decades is convincing, if you agree that anecdotal evidence carries some weight. Either way, new research has added more scientific evidence.
How Much Protein Per Meal?
Previous studies looked at how much protein you should eat per meal. Science has looked at this from two angles – the protein per meal minimum and the protein per meal maximum.
There is technically no maximum amount of protein you should eat per meal. All the protein you eat will be digested and assimilated. If it’s a huge bolus, it will simply take longer to digest, and not all of the protein from that single meal can be utilized for building muscle.
The rest of the protein will be used for other purposes, or simply oxidized. Yep, try to load your whole day’s protein into a single meal and you just burn more protein for fuel (and protein ain’t a great fuel). Current evidence says that the maximum amount of protein per meal likely to be used for muscle growth is 0.4g/kg/meal to 0.55g/kg/meal. For a 185 pound bodybuilder, that’s 46 grams.
Research also suggests that the minimum protein amount per meal to stimulate protein synthesis is at least .24g/kg or about 20-25 grams. Ideal per meal protein intakes may be higher based on how intense the training stimulus is and a person’s body size, and 20 – 25 grams may not be enough if it doesn’t help contribute to a sufficient daily total (which is why 30 to 40 grams per meal is a much more common target in bodybuilding diet plans).
How Much Protein Per Day?
In addition, the bulk of the evidence says that total daily protein intakes of 1.6g/kg to 2.2g/kg per day are needed to optimize muscle growth. Note that the upper end of this range matches the classic bodybuilder rule of 1 gram per pound of total body weight per day. But also note that the low end is not an extravagant amount. (Muscle gains can be achieved with less total daily protein than many people think, as long as all the other muscle growth factors are in place).
There are lots of things we’re still not sure about in the muscle building nutrition field, but one thing widely agreed on today is that the most important nutritional priority for muscle growth is to hit an optimal intake of protein for the whole day, by the end of the day and do that consistently, day after day. Nutrient timing matters, but total daily protein intake matters the most and should be prioritized. (Muscle growth and fat loss nutrition priorities may differ. Learn about the hierarchy of priorities here).
Put together, these facts suggest that it’s not ideal to eat most of your daily protein in one huge meal, to eat only twice a day, and or to have meals with only small amounts of protein (meals that are mostly carbs, for example). The ideal approach for protein distribution would be to spread it across multiple meals in fairly equal amounts. Or at the least, be sure to get the minimum effective dose at each meal.
Protein Frequency: No, Eating 6 Times A Day Is Not Mandatory … But…
At one time, classic bodybuilding philosophy called for eating protein as often as every three hours, and usually 5 to 6 times a day, in order to provide a “slow drip of amino acids into the bloodstream.” While this general idea of spreading protein across the whole day still holds merit, exercise scientists have discovered that the “slow drip infusion” of protein through the day does not have to be taken to an extreme.
More meals is not better, especially beyond 5 or 6 per day. In fact, it’s possible to consume protein too often or too close together because some lines of research suggest that there’s a “refractory period” for amino acids.
Here’s what this means: Suppose you eat protein at 6 pm with dinner, and then you decide to eat protein again at 7:30 or 8:00 pm, thinking that the more often you eat protein, the better. What actually happens is that because you had already taken in protein so recently, additional protein consumed so soon after does not stimulate muscle protein synthesis again. The muscles are simply not responsive to it yet (they’ve already had enough; the cup is full, so to speak, and before having more it’s best to wait until it’s empty again).
The most recent experimental studies, combined with the best mechanistic theory we can come up with, suggests that eating a sufficient dose of protein at least four times a day can optimize muscle growth, and as few as three protein feedings a day may be satisfactory for the average trainee, provided total daily protein intake is high enough and the resistance training stimulus is strong enough.
What About Protein Timing?
When following a traditional three-meal breakfast, lunch, and dinner, most people don’t eat much protein at breakfast. They get the majority of protein at night.
Scientists think that this may be a risk factor for muscle loss, especially if total daily protein is too low. Even if the total daily protein goal is reached, falling short on protein at breakfast (or any other meal) may not optimize muscle growth.
There’s been a trend in the diet world in recent years, where the pendulum has swung from “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” to “Nah, bro, doesn’t matter. Skip breakfast if you want; eat as few meals as you want. It makes no difference.” Some go as far as claiming that fewer meals is better (there are actually people claiming that one meal a day, aka “OMAD” is superior).
Many people do report better weight loss when they reduce the number of meals they eat. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that as long as there’s no compensation at other meals, no hunger problems are created, and the meal plan is sustainable, if you drop out a meal, you’re eating fewer calories. So the weight loss should be no surprise. It was simply another way to achieve a calorie deficit.
But what about increasing muscle mass? There’s no evidence that a lower protein frequency is better for muscle gains – the evidence suggests the opposite. In fact, even if you eat at least 3 times a day, if you’re lacking protein at any of those meals, your muscle gain potential is diminished.
A new study examined whether having an adequate protein intake at breakfast would be more effective at increasing muscle mass during a 12-week weight training program, compared to the typical protein intake pattern with protein skewed more toward diner. The study also evaluated how the protein pattern affected strength gains.
The New Study: What The Researchers Did
33 healthy men between 18 and 26 years old were recruited and split into two groups – a high protein breakfast group and a low protein breakfast group. The high protein breakfast group received an adequate intake of protein at all three meals, while the lower protein group had inadequate protein at breakfast with a much bigger intake at dinner.
In the low protein group, the subjects ate only 8 grams of protein, an amount too low to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. The majority of the protein was consumed at dinner (55g). In the high protein group, 23 grams of protein was consumed at breakfast with the rest evenly distributed between lunch and dinner.
It’s worth noting that 23 grams of protein is still low compared to what most strength athletes and bodybuilders consume, but it does cross the minimum threshold found in at least one study to stimulate muscle protein synthesis.
In addition to the dietary intervention, which was 12 weeks long, all the subjects in both groups followed a supervised weight training program three days a week.
At the end of the study, the differences in strength were not very large, but the high protein breakfast group had slightly better results in every exercise that was tested.
The high protein breakfast group also increased lean body mass more than the low protein group. It wasn’t a large difference – only 1.75 pounds more – but given how slowly muscle is typically built, many people would consider that of practical significance.
The researchers concluded that having inadequate protein at any meal, especially breakfast, adversely affects muscle protein synthesis and limits muscle growth.
Study Limitations
The results of this study look like they a clear advantage to eating a high protein breakfast for increasing muscle gains. However, the findings do need to be interpreted with some caution because there were limitations.
One issue is that the subjects were allowed to choose the timing of their workouts – morning or afternoon. This could have influenced the results of the study because we know that protein timing around resistance training – especially afterwards – can improve muscle growth. Nutrient timing was put on a pedestal for many years, but then a pendulum swung the other way and it was downplayed. The truth lies more in the middle. When it comes to protein intake in relation to resistance training, timing matters, and can influence results. Future studies should account for this.
Another problem is that the total amount of protein consumed for the day was not optimal. During resistance training when hypertrophy is the goal the bare minimum amount of total daily protein should be 1.6g per kg but in both groups the subjects in this study were only taking in 1.3 and 1.45g/kg.
Future research should endeavor to make sure protein is set in the optimal range for resistance trained athletes. This is an especially salient point because it may explain how it’s possible that in one study on time-restricted feeding, muscle growth in subjects who ate breakfast was not any better than the group that skipped breakfast. Even though the time-restricted feeding group squeezed all their meals into an 8-hour window, the difference was their total protein for the day was optimized.
Yet another limitation is that the subjects in this study were untrained, so we don’t know if results would be similar in experienced lifters or in other populations (older, women and so on). Trained lifters gain muscle even slower, so perhaps the difference would be even smaller.
What This Means To You
Despite the limitations, the results of this study provide valuable insights in more than one area including total daily protein needs, protein requirements per meal, protein timing, as well as meal frequency.
Meal frequency has been a contentious topic over the years, in terms of its effect on both fat loss and muscle gain. Theoretically, it makes sense that the more intakes of protein there are each day, the more separate opportunities there are for a spike in muscle protein synthesis. But there is currently no evidence that the classic bodybuilding approach of 6 meals a day is necessary to optimize muscle growth, though there’s no reason not to eat that often if that’s your preference.
While many bodybuilders today do eat 5 times a day, often because they are big and need multiple feedings to easily hit total daily calorie and protein goals, evidence from all studies to date suggests that there’s minimal difference between 4 and 5 protein feedings a day. We can also hypothesize that 4 protein feedings may only be slightly better than 3 when everything else in the diet and training is optimized.
When eating only 3 times a day however, it appears important to spread protein fairly evenly across those meals and to be certain that the optimal total daily protein goal is met. An advantage of eating more meals is that it usually makes it easier to hit the total daily protein target (and the daily calorie target, when a surplus is required). This is another reason that so many bodybuilders still eat 4 to 6 times a day.
Both research and practice also tell us that muscle can be gained when eating protein only twice a day, but eating a carbohydrate-only breakfast, skipping breakfast, or leaving long gaps in between meals is not optimal when muscle building is the primary goal.
This may not be as relevant when weight loss is the primary goal, because maintaining muscle you already have (while losing fat) and building new muscle tissue are two different subjects. Just because one particular dietary pattern does not lead to muscle loss doesn’t mean it will optimize muscle gain.
While the present study shouldn’t necessarily be used to dismiss intermittent fasting or time-restricted feeding diets for the purpose of fat loss, caution must be used when citing research on such diets (that have infrequent protein consumption) as evidence in favor of their use for muscle-building. It’s always important to structure your meal plan according to your own personal goals.
Conclusion
These results add to the body of evidence that adequate total daily protein intake is more important than the number of meals, timing of meals, or the distribution of protein across the meals.
However, if you want to maximize your muscle gains to the greatest degree possible, there are advantages to aiming for 3 to 5 meals spread throughout the day with a sufficient dose of protein at every meal. Large athletes with a high calorie expenditure will especially benefit from more frequent meals and protein intakes.
In this context, the bodybuilders were right all along.
If you want to see a complete bodybuilding-style diet program that includes carb cycling, be sure to read (or listen on audiobook) to Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle – the Bible of Fat loss
If you’re looking for personal support for your fat loss goals, including unlimited access to me via private forum and private message, be sure to check out our Burn the Fat Inner Circle.
-Tom Venuto,
Founder, Burn the Fat Inner Circle
Author, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle
Scientific Reference: Yasuda J et al, Evenly Distributed Protein Intake over 3 Meals Augments Resistance Exercise–Induced Muscle Hypertrophy in Healthy Young Men, The Journal of Nutrition, 150:7, 1845–1851. July 2020.
The post How Often Should You Eat Protein To Maximize Muscle Growth… And Why Fasting Or Infrequent Eating Can Hold Back Your Gains appeared first on Burn The Fat Blog.
from Burn The Fat Blog https://www.burnthefatblog.com/how-often-should-you-eat-protein/
