“It is possible to get too much protein,” Beth Czerwony, RD, a dietitian at Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Human Nutrition, told Verywell. “Our bodies can [only absorb so much] protein in a sitting.”
What counts as “too much” protein for one sitting varies from person to person. “Everyone is different,” Abby Langer, RD, a Toronto-based dietician, told Verywell. “Body composition, body size, age, sex, activity levels, and medical history should all be taken into account when we assess if someone is consuming too much of any macronutrient.”
Since it is possible to eat too much protein in one sitting, experts recommend spreading your protein intake throughout the day so your body can absorb it more easily.
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How Much Protein Do You Need Each Day?
The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 grams of protein a day per kilogram of body weight, Traci McCarthy, PT, DPT, PhD, an exercise physiology instructor at New York University, told Verywell. “But that’s just supporting general life,” she said. “If you’re getting 30 minutes of exercise, you’re going to need more.”
Depending on how active you are, you may need 1.2 to 1.7 kilograms of protein a day per kilogram of body weight, Czerwony said. This is advisable if you’re trying to gain muscle, she added.
I did a quick calculation for me. I'm 160 pounds, that's 72.5 kilograms. At 1.2 per kilogram that's 87 grams of protein on the days I exercise but only 58 grams on the days I don't exercise.
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How Much Protein Should You Get In One Sitting?
Research on just how much protein you should eat at one time is inconclusive, experts said. “While 25 to 30 grams of protein for one meal is the standard recommendation, further research is needed to quantify a specific upper threshold for per-meal protein intake,” Perri Halperin, MS, RD, CDN, clinical nutrition coordinator at the Mount Sinai Health System, told Verywell.
Just like your daily protein intake, the amount of protein you need at each meal will be influenced by factors like your activity level and body composition goals, experts said.
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Why It’s Important to Spread Out Your Daily Protein Intake
If you’ve had a busy day and you haven’t been able to optimize your diet the way you would have liked, that doesn’t mean you have to cram your daily protein intake into one meal. “Getting all your protein in one sitting would be challenging,” McCarthy said. “I find it hard to consume a lot at once.”
Eating all your protein at one meal may make you less likely to eat a balanced meal with the other food groups you need. Langer explained: “For most people, [protein] would end up being the only thing they consume just because of the volume and satiety factors.”
For reference, McCarthy explained, someone who’s 150 pounds would need about 80 to 160 grams of protein, depending on how active they are and their workout goals. One serving (100 grams) of chicken has 32.1 grams of protein; one medium egg has 5.54 grams of protein; and one serving of lentils (100 grams) has 9.02 grams of protein.
Given how much protein is found in common sources, it would be difficult to consume your daily protein intake all at once, experts said, and doing so can cause various issues. This is true no matter your workout goals or activity level.
“Consuming more protein than what is needed can cause unintentional weight gain, as the calories are stored in the adipose stores instead of being utilized for muscle growth,” Czerwony said. “[Other] side effects of excessive protein include elevated blood lipids. [This] can result in issues with cardiovascular health and gastrointestinal issues like constipation, dehydration, and overtaxing your kidneys and liver by creating excessive ammonia in some rare situations.”
Because eating too much protein in one meal can be uncomfortable, you should aim to spread your protein intake between three to six meals and snacks daily, McCarthy said. “Everybody’s meal preferences are different,” she explained. While some people have three meals a day, “other people like to have [between]-meal snacks, and that’s fine too.”
Getting too little protein can also cause problems, McCarthy said. Not getting enough protein may mean you’re less likely to get enough calories daily. When this happens, “we start seeing changes in mood states—where people are more irritable and quicker to anger—and changes in sleep,” she explained.
It’s important to remember that there will be days you don’t get to eat exactly the way you want, and that’s normal, Langer said. “I wouldn’t worry about getting the exact amount of protein at each meal, and certainly not day to day.” If you don’t get enough protein for a few days due to a busy schedule or other circumstances, there likely won’t be any long-term consequences. “It’s what you eat overall, over time, that matters,” Langer said.
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