Evidence-based nutrition

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Protein Intake: What 9 Studies Found (and What the Internet Added)

The evidence ceiling is about 35% below what the internet tells you. The per-meal cap was a measurement artifact. The post-workout shake urgency disappears when daily intake is controlled. And the gap between where most people are and where the evidence points? About 33 grams. One chicken breast.

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You need 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight
Your body can only absorb 30 grams per meal
You need a protein shake within 30 minutes of training
You can't build muscle and lose fat at the same time
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What the evidence says
Is There a Limit to How Much Protein Your Body Can Use Per Meal? Your body does not waste protein from a big meal. The old '30 grams per meal' number came from studies that only measured for a few hours —… 3:10 · 3 studies
Do You Need More Protein After 40 to Keep Your Muscle? As you get older, your muscles still work fine — they can build at the same peak rate as a twenty-year-old's. But they need a louder signal to… 3:20 · 3 studies
Plant vs Animal Protein for Muscle: What 2 Studies Found If you eat enough total protein — about 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight — it does not matter whether that protein comes from plants or animals… 3:15 · 2 studies
How Much Protein Do You Actually Need Per Day to Build Muscle? If you lift weights and want to build muscle, the research suggests eating about 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day. For someone weighing… 3:40 · 4 studies
How Much Protein When Losing Weight? (24-Study Answer) When you cut calories to lose weight, eating more protein helps you lose more fat and keep more muscle. Across 24 studies with over a thousand people, raising… 3:56 · 2 studies
Can You Actually Build Muscle While Losing Fat? Yes, the evidence suggests you can gain muscle while losing fat at the same time. A study gave overweight young men 2.4 grams of protein per kilogram of… 3:10 · 2 studies
Do You Need Protein Within 30 Minutes of Training? Researchers pooled data from 23 studies and 525 people to check whether drinking protein right after training builds more muscle than eating it at any other time. At… 3:00 · 2 studies
Does Spreading Protein Across Meals Build More Muscle? If you eat the same total protein each day but load most of it at dinner, your muscles build less protein over 24 hours than if you spread… 3:00 · 2 studies
Does Excess Protein Turn Into Body Fat? If you lift and eat way more protein than you need, the evidence says it will not become body fat. Your body burns roughly a quarter of protein… 3:00 · 2 studies
The papers we actually read
What 24 Studies Say About Protein When You’re Losing Weight Across 24 trials and 1,063 people on the same number of calories, the higher-protein group lost 0.87 kg more fat… Wycherley et al. · 2012 · The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · n=1,063
Why Protein Works Differently After 40 (Study Data) Older adults (~71y) required 0.40 g protein per kg body weight per meal to maximize muscle protein synthesis, compared to… Moore et al. · 2015 · Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences · n=108
Vegan vs Meat-Eater Muscle: What 5 Tests Revealed Five independent muscle measurements — body scan, ultrasound, and individual fibers under a microscope — showed zero difference between habitual… Hevia-Larraín et al. · 2021 · Sports Medicine · n=38
4.4g Protein/kg for 8 Weeks: What Happened to Body Fat Resistance-trained individuals consumed 4.4 g/kg/d of protein for 8 weeks, adding roughly 800 extra daily calories. Their body fat did… Antonio et al. · 2014 · Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · n=30
Same Protein, 25% More Muscle: The Meal Split Study Distributing about 90 grams of daily protein evenly across three meals produced 25% more muscle protein synthesis over 24 hours… Mamerow et al. · 2014 · The Journal of Nutrition · n=8
The Anabolic Window: What 23 Studies Actually Found When total protein intake was accounted for, timing had no significant effect on muscle strength or hypertrophy. The single strongest… Schoenfeld et al. · 2013 · Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · n=525
Longland 2016: Men Gained Muscle in a 40% Calorie Deficit Men eating 2.4 g/kg protein gained 1.2 kg lean mass and lost 4.8 kg fat in a 40% deficit. Men… Longland et al. · 2016 · The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · n=40
100g Protein in One Meal: What a 12-Hour Study Found Ingesting 100g of protein after exercise produced higher muscle protein synthesis at every time point for over 12 hours compared… Trommelen et al. · 2023 · Cell Reports Medicine · n=36
The Point Where More Protein Stops Building Muscle Protein supplementation beyond about 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight per day produced no further gains in fat-free mass… Morton et al. · 2018 · British Journal of Sports Medicine · n=1,863
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