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Learn more about SCL Health's Nutrition and Weight Loss and Bariatrics services. On a biological level, proteins are sort of like Legos for our bodies. They’re the building blocks that make up our organs, tendons, hormones and, of course, muscles. But it’s that last thing on the list that gets so much attention when it comes to protein intake and exercise. All over your local gym, you’ve probably seen your fair share of protein shakes. It’s synonymous with muscle gain and weight loss, but can you overdo it? Let’s take a look and find out. How much protein should I be consuming?According to the Dietary Reference Intake report for macronutrients, a sedentary adult should consume 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or 0.36 grams per pound. That means that the average sedentary man should eat about 56 grams of protein per day, and the average woman should eat about 46 grams. Can I eat an all-protein diet?Yes, technically you could. But it wouldn’t be good for you. (We’ll explore that more in a moment.) But basically, you should aim for anywhere between 10%-35% of your calories coming from protein. So if your body requires 2,000 calories per day, 200-700 calories should come from protein. How do exercise and dieting affect protein intake?The short answer is the more you exercise and burn calories, the more protein you can healthily eat. In fact, protein is great for weight loss because protein-rich foods leave you feeling much more full than fat and carbs. But all things in moderation — you can still gain weight when overeating protein, just like any other food. Remember to focus on calories in versus calories out — your body will only process or convert a certain percent of what you eat into energy. Can eating too much protein cause health problems?Maybe you’ve heard some scary things about how too much protein can damage your kidneys and liver. But before you toss out all your chicken legs and protein powder, we’re here to tell you not to worry! The biggest concern about overconsumption of protein applies to people who are predisposed to kidney disease. The real health issue you should keep in mind about protein is that our bodies can’t store protein. So once its quota is reached, our bodies will convert extra protein into either energy or fat. That’s why it makes more sense to simply get your recommended amount of protein and then focus on carbohydrates and fats for the remainder of your daily calories. OK, so where should I get my daily protein from?The healthiest options for protein are generally from plant sources, but the right types of meat are also perfectly healthy when eaten in moderation. Here are a few good places to start sourcing your protein:
Now that you’re a protein pro, you can go out and tell all your friends not to be afraid of this wonderful macronutrient! But be sure that, like all things, you find a balance. In other words, take your protein with a healthy side of moderation. This is one of the age old questions… and for some reason the internetosphere (I made that up, consider this my copyright) has settled on 30 grams in a meal being the maximum your body can use… but what is the truth? Well, to answer that
question we need to really answer 3 questions: 1) How much protein from a single meal can you absorb? 2) How much protein from a single meal will be used for building muscle? 3) What is the optimal amount of protein per meal? How much can you absorb from a single meal?The honest answer here is that we don’t have a solid answer for what the upper limit is. Several studies have been done where people consume 50 grams or more in a single meal and all of that protein was digested in the span of a few hours. The upper limit may be in the 100s of grams, but we don’t exactly know how high the ceiling is… but we know it definitely isn’t 30 grams. How much protein from a single meal will be used for building muscle?The more you consume the more of it goes building muscle. So for example if you consume 20 grams of protein you will have more protein going to building muscle than 10 grams. Same thing goes with 40 grams over 20 grams. We have data in humans up to ~70 grams in a single serving. Now there is a little bit of a catch, your “efficiency” of putting protein toward muscle decreases as your single meal intake increases. For example, when you consume 20 grams of protein, lets say 5 of those grams go straight to building muscle… which makes it 25% efficient. When you consume 40 grams lets say 8 grams go straight to building muscle, which makes it 20% efficient [these are not the exact, actual numbers, but illustrate the point]. What is the optimal amount of protein per meal?The optimal amount is your daily intake divided across ~4 equal servings per day. So if you need 100 grams a day, try for ~25 grams per meal. If you need 200 grams per day, try for ~50 per meal. But too be honest, if you spread it over 3 meals and 2 snacks, will most likely be just as effective. That means you have a lot of flexibility and just giving it a bit of thought and a very small amount of planning can help you optimize your intake. The Wrap UpYou can consume more than 30 grams per meal and most of that will be absorbed. As your protein per meal increases, it becomes less efficient in terms of being used for building muscle. Spreading your protein intake out evenly across the day is the most effective way to consume your protein. We make cookies fit our macros.We use cookies to help our website load faster in future, show you things we think you'll like, and track our business performance. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Is 30 grams of protein a lot for weight loss?Some nutrition experts recommend a 30/30 plan of 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking for weight loss.
What does 30g of protein do to your body?Protein is the only macronutrient that contains nitrogen, and some studies found that when you consume more than 30 grams of protein, the amount of nitrogen in test subjects' urine increased significantly. It was concluded that this means you're excreting the excess protein and you should stick to 30 grams per meal.
Is 30g of protein too much for a shake?Most active people drink one protein shake per day, which contains a single scoop of protein, meaning that you are receiving nearly half of your daily recommended protein intake from this shake. It's recommended that you try to only consume somewhere between 25 to 50 grams of protein from protein powder each day.
Is 30g of protein enough to build muscle?However, not all of it is used to build muscle if you eat a huge amount of it in one sitting. You can use roughly 30 grams of protein per meal to build muscle at rest. After a workout, you can make use of up to 40 grams if you have just completed a half-or full-body workout.
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Is 30 grams a lot of protein?
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