Protein, yes, but how much is too much?

June 14, 2010

Protein, yes, but how much is too much?

New mothers, weekend warriors and professional cyclists alike all know the basics -- a dose of protein after a workout can help you rebuild muscle tissue, restore energy levels and stimulate physiological gains. If these truths are so widely held, then why do we run into so many people who are overdosing on protein!?! Truth is -- most nutritionists, trainers and know-it-all-gym enthusiasts (we all know them), are giving you bad advice!

First off, your average gym-goer subscribes to what we call the three pillars of nutrition: protein=good, carbs=bad, fat=worse. As ridiculous as this sounds, it's amazing to hear the stark proclamations that your average-joe/jane makes about nutrition. Interestingly, this isn't because of lack of interest or research. In fact, many of of these people read enough fitness rags/blogs to be able to rattle off the differences between whey, milk and soy proteins on command. So why do we see so many of these same people leaving their favorite supplement retailer, shaker cup in hand, ready to guzzle 75 grams of high-grade protein into their 175 lb, 15% body fat bodies. Sound familiar? If it doesn't, good for you (or maybe you just haven't been training). If it does, then keep reading.

It is imperative (critically important, essential, please don't mess this up people) that you adjust your protein intake to your lean body mass. Over the course of a day, athletes looking to improve their body composition should intake roughly 1.5 grams of protein for every pound of lean body mass. Let's do some basic "supplement math" on our hypothetical 175 lb, 15% body fat athlete as an example:

Total Weight: 175
Lean Body Mass: 149
Daily Protein Intake: 223 grams/day

Now, here is where the debate rages. How much protein should our athlete take in one sitting? Well -- let's start simple. No one in his or her right mind would recommend that our 175 lb athlete take all 223 grams in one sitting (you can laugh now). Here's the squishy part -- the amount of protein that your body can metabolize in one sitting depends on your level of activity, body composition (already accounted for in our calculation) and genetic profile. At the end of the day, IT DEPENDS(ugh)! However, there are some general rules that, when applied within a balanced diet, have been highly successful for our athletes. Working with elite nutritionist and RSP affiliate, Mike Ferencsik, and several NFL players, we have found that you can get close to that magic number by spreading your protein intake over 8-9 meals. Though we won't get into the details of Mike's diet here, this calculation puts our hypothetical athlete at roughly 25 grams of protein per sitting. While you could (and many people do) consume much more than these recommended quantities without any ill effects, but we believe that the potential gains in muscularity do not offset the risks associated with excessive protein intake (e.g stored fat, liver problems). Remember -- you're training to become a better athlete, not just move weight around in the gym.

We hope that this helps. As we emphasize in all of our entries, HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE and USE YOUR DISCRETION. Don't let any nutritionist, coach or friend talk you into a training or supplementation program that doesn't work for you.

Check in with us next week and follow us at www.rspnutrition.com for more updates.

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