How Much Protein Should I Eat in One Meal?

Posted June 10, 2010 in Diet, Your Questions 1 Comment »
Your Questions
Your Questions

I get plenty of questions in various comments throughout the website, but I also get comments and questions via the Project Swole Contact Form.

Generally I address those questions through e-mail, but often I do not have the time to reply to each and every question personally.

From now on I want to take a more proactive approach to answering Your Health Questions by posting them separately in the blog. This way we can be sure that everyone benefits from the Q & A.

Tim wrote:

“How many grams of protein should i take at one time, and how much time should i leave in between drinking my protein shakes in order to get the maximum benefit from it?”

Response:

On average, your digestive system can handle about 30 grams of protein at once.

However, human physiology differs so widely that 20 grams of protein may make one person sick, while another person (for instance a professional bodybuilder on several grams of steroids and HGH) might be able to assimilate 60 grams of protein in one meal.

To be on the safe side, I try not to go over 30 grams in one sitting. Back in my teens and early 20’s I would often get 40-50 grams of protein at once and it tended to make me feel sick, bloated, and quite farty.

How often should you eat protein?

I have mentioned several times in several articles that you should ingest some protein with every meal. That is to say: every single time you eat a snack or a meal, you should include some protein.

In my opinion, every 3 hours you should eat 10-20 grams of protein for a snack, or 20-30 grams of protein for a small meal. Bodybuilders, endormorphs, and people on anabolic supplements can often tolerate 40 grams of protein in one meal.

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