Reading

How Much Protein Can the Body Use in a Single Meal for Muscle-Building? Implications for Daily Protein Distribution

Schoenfeld & Aragon

A review examining the upper limit of protein the body can use per meal for muscle building, and what that implies for daily distribution. It argues absorption is not truly capped, and that spreading intake across at least four meals at roughly 0.4 g/kg each best supports anabolism, reaching a daily total near 1.6 g/kg.

Key takeaways

The paper challenges the popular idea of a hard per-meal protein cap, noting that whole-protein absorption into circulation is effectively unlimited even if the anabolic response has diminishing returns.
Muscle protein synthesis is often maximized near 20 to 25 g of high-quality fast protein, but that ceiling rises when protein is slower-digesting or eaten alongside other macronutrients.
To maximize anabolism the authors recommend targeting about 0.4 g/kg of protein per meal across at least four meals, reaching a daily minimum near 1.6 g/kg.
At the higher end of intake reported in the literature (2.2 g/kg/day) spread over four meals, per-meal intake would reach about 0.55 g/kg.
Excess protein above the acute maximizing dose is not entirely oxidized for energy; some of the additional amino acids are still used for tissue building.
Practical guidance favors even protein distribution across the day rather than concentrating intake in one or two large feedings.

Reflections

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