The Truth About Protein and Building Muscle
Experiments have shown that lab animals can survive on very limited protein as long as they have enough fat and carbs. Simply put, the body begins to lower amino acid oxidation to spare nitrogen containing compounds.Research clearly shows that by increasing blood levels of amino acids you increase protein synthesis in skeletal muscle.[3,4] It has also been shown that you can keep a positive nitrogen balance for long periods of time and that nitrogen accretion will tend to continue as long as protein intake is high.
August 03, 2018 • 11 min read
Learning how protein works can help you get more out of your supplement regimen. These common myths might be holding you back. Get the scoop so you can get your gains.
Myth 1: High Protein Intakes Will Not Affect Muscle Protein Synthesis
Fact: Greater availability of amino acids means more protein synthesis within muscle cells.
Experiments have shown that lab animals can survive on very limited protein as long as they have enough fat and carbs. Simply put, the body begins to lower amino acid oxidation to spare nitrogen containing compounds.
Yet can we really apply this kind of example to adult humans trying to build muscle? I think not.
When the body begins getting stingy with amino acids because of low protein intake, nonessential functions, such as skeletal muscle protein synthesis, drop to minimal levels.
Other functions within the body such as the immune system, which uses glutamine primarily of muscle origin for fuel, also begins to suffer.[1]
This cripples the body’s ability to cope with the stress and tissue damage from intense training. Some researchers even believe that the currently recommended protein intakes may actually lead to illness because they don’t include enough amino acids.[2]
Research clearly shows that by increasing blood levels of amino acids you increase protein synthesis in skeletal muscle.[3,4] It has also been shown that you can keep a positive nitrogen balance for long periods of time and that nitrogen accretion will tend to continue as long as protein intake is high.[5]
Clearly, if you want to maximize your gains in the gym you’ve gotta get more protein than the average Joe.
Myth 2: You Can Only Assimilate 30 Grams Of Protein At One Sitting
Fact: The body has the ability to digest and assimilate much more than 30 grams of protein from a single meal.
Speaking of high intakes of protein, people have been perpetuating the myth that you can only assimilate about 30 grams of protein at a time, making protein meals any greater than a 6-ounce chicken breast a waste.
Critics of high protein intakes may try to point out that eating more protein only leads to burning more protein. This is true, nevertheless, some researchers speculate that this increase in protein oxidation following high protein intakes may initiate something they call the “anabolic drive”.[7]
The anabolic drive is marked by hyperaminoacidemia, an increase in both protein synthesis and breakdown with an overall positive nitrogen balance.
In animals, anabolic hormones like IGF-1 and GH also go up.[8] Though it’s hard to track that in humans, lean tissue accretion does go up with super high protein intakes.[9,10]
The take-home message is that for more muscle growth you need less muscle loss, and more protein synthesis. You get this with heavy training, enough calories, and high protein consumption.
This means that meals with more than 30 gram
Both fast and slow proteins are good for someone trying to build muscle. Proteins that enter the blood stream quickly increase protein synthesis significantly. Proteins that enter the blood stream slowly are beneficial for keeping protein from breaking down, even if you don’t eat that much of them.
By using both fast and slow proteins, you should be able not only to jump-start protein uptake into muscle cells during a grueling workout, but also make sure that protein synthesis is jump-started and that protein breakdown is kept very low during the hours after the workout. Take the fast protein before training, and a slow protein after for the best muscle-building effect.
s of protein will be the norm. And all that protein will be put to use by the body.
https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/exposing-the-myths-about-protein.html