how much protein do we need ?

💪🏼 Dietary factors, including the dose of protein in a single meal, protein source, timing and macronutrient co-ingestion can affect amino acid bioavailability, absorption and delivery to the skeletal muscle. 

 💪🏼 It has been proposed that the leucine trigger (see previous post) can be achieved by consuming 0.4-0.6 g/kg/protein per meal across a minimum of 4 meals. This means that the optimal daily protein intake is suggested to range from 1.6-2.2 g/kg, which exceeds the UK recommendations of 0.75 g/kg/d.

 💪🏼 This suggests that the national guidelines are set based on the intake, which ensures it is attainable for the majority of the population, while also ensuring basic health, but not OPTIMAL health.

 💪🏼 Basically, 20 g/protein should be consumed every 3-4h for optimal MPS in adult population, although ~40g may be required if the protein quality is compromised, by being plant-based for example. Nonetheless, additional protein in excess of the optimal dose does not produce further benefit.