P R O T E I N - Part Two

Now the point for major concern is how much should the protein consumption be and how frequent in a day’s meal should these be taken. Well protein ratios are set by bodybuilders as one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight spread across several meals throughout the day. Well these are one of the greatest myths circulating that have woven themselves so deep into the psych of people that it’s really hard to uproot. General thinking goes like. Your body can’t absorb more than 20 to 30 percent of protein you take in a single meal. If that would have been the case we humans would have died a long time back and would not have evolved as a superior specie. Before the modern humans arrived or the preservation techniques were known to mankind we ate what we killed and had to consume it before anybody else took it away. They ate it as much as they could and there body took its time to digest it. That’s how human body works. Furthermore, they’re saying that eating large amounts of protein just 2 to 3 times per day will result in “protein loss” and even deficiencies? Those poor hunters would have died of muscle loss and weakness before there next hunt if that would have been the case. 

The current Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8g/kg or in terms we are more familiar with, 0.36g per pound of bodyweight. These RDA figures provide only the minimum amount of protein to maintain short-term nitrogen balance for sedentary individuals. The RDA figures are basically the lowest amount of protein intake needed for people who are not active and are not looking at maximising muscle mass or athletic performance. Human body can work with just 0.8g/kg protein consumption. If given a bit more it can do wonders. 

So to say, you will need the extra amount of protein in your diet if you need to get your desired physique. And the advice you got from your gym bro is almost right as well. You need enough protein to build and maintain your body. But don’t get all crazy about a gram of protein for every kilo of body weight that’s just stupid. You are not going to utilise every ounce of that 120 kg bodybuilders have survived just by consuming 80 grams of protein a day and that too from wholesome food stuff.