How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review evaluating acute and long-term literature without formal systematic review methodology.
PubMed 29497353 · doi:10.1186/s12970-018-0215-1
What was done
The authors conducted a narrative review of acute and long-term studies to investigate the upper anabolic threshold for per-meal protein intake and to establish practical dietary protein distribution guidelines for maximizing lean tissue accretion in resistance-trained individuals.
What was found
The authors report that while doses of protein greater than 20 g increase amino acid oxidation, not all excess amino acids are wasted, as some are utilized for tissue-building purposes (especially when factoring in digestion kinetics and mixed-macronutrient meals). Based on their review, they recommend a target intake of 0.4 g/kg/meal across a minimum of 4 meals per day to achieve a baseline of 1.6 g/kg/day, or up to 0.55 g/kg/meal across 4 meals to reach an upper target of 2.2 g/kg/day.
Why it matters
It challenges the strict belief that protein intake per meal is capped at 20–25 g for muscle building, providing bodyweight-scaled per-meal targets for athletes and active individuals.
Limits
The abstract describes a narrative review rather than a systematic review or meta-analysis, and does not report the total number of studies evaluated, risk-of-bias assessments, or quantitative pooled effect sizes.
Cited by
- supports Resistance-trained individuals require approximately 1.6 to 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, with an upper 95% confidence limit around 2.2 grams per kilogram.