I’ve read your articles and listened to several vlogs where you discuss Muscle Protein Synthesis and I think I understand it, but want to make sure my understanding is accurate.
I’m a woman in my 60s and am losing weight (BMI normal but waist is 37inches) so because of both age and weight loss, I want to be sure I preserve as much muscle mass as possible. (I am on week 3 of Beginner’s Template so am lifting ) Because I was already eating a very healthy diet before deciding to lose weight, I went to a dietician and examples of cuts are going from ¾ c dry oatmeal to ½ cup, only 3 servings of fruit a day, … so pretty fine-tuned i.e. I don’t have a lot of leeway. I am eating protein with low amts of saturated fat: nonfat yogurt, poultry, fish, egg whites (+ 1 egg per day). So I want to get enough protein to trigger MPS, but not too much that adds calories I don’t need.
1.Is it a correct understanding that MPS needs x grams of protein to trigger the process and that if you consume x-y at a meal, that the protein you did intake doesn’t get used for MPS? (Got into a discussion with an older relative who doesn’t eat nearly enough protein and she responded, “Well something is better than nothing.”) Is this a case when something is not actually better than nothing? Does protein consumed but in levels too low to trigger MPS get converted to glucose and used for fuel or does it do some other kind of protein-specific work in the body ?
2.If one consumes more protein at a meal than is needed to trigger MPS (x+y), does that protein still contribute to MPS or does the extra get converted to glucose and used for fuel?
3.I know to leave at least 3 hours between protein consumption. I recall that from one of your vlogs, you said that consumption of carbs in those 3 hours doesn’t interfere with MPS refractory period. What about 5-6 g of protein like you would get in a serving of nuts or a piece of bread? Would that interfere?
I am 69 k and have been aiming for 30 g of animal protein per meal plus whatever protein is in the plant-based foods that I’m eating that meal. Does that sound like enough? Too much?
Thanks so much for the great service you provide. I have told so many people about your website.
Yes, though really it’s the concentration of EAA’s, which are part of protein. If you don’t reach this threshold for MPS, some of the amino acids will get added to the pool that will float around the bloodstream for awhile, perhaps contributing to a future meal reaching the threshold. So…yea, something is better than nothing I guess, though we’d obviously prefer each meal to contain sufficient protein.
It gets oxidized or may contribute to future MPS events.
Not sure. We wouldn’t really recommend snacking for most however, unless it’s the only way to reach their calorie goals.
It’s weight dependent and our recommendation, which stems from ESPEN/ASPEN, ACS, ISSN, and a few other national/international organizations is 1.6-3.1 grams of protein per kilogram body weight
Thanks so much, Jordan. That is more nuanced than I had thought… but I guess I should have expected that.
Re:
It’s weight dependent and our recommendation, which stems from ESPEN/ASPEN, ACS, ISSN, and a few other national/international organizations is 1.6-3.1 grams of protein per kilogram body weight
I feel like I might sound picky, but I feel like I have little margin to miscalculate. I’ll need to be losing weight for several months, I think, and I really want to conserve muscle mass to the greatest extent possible throughout that loss. (And while the dietician was great about finding places I could cut, she way underestimated protein (5 oz /day) . I didn’t bother to argue because I had gotten what I needed otherwise.)
My question is more about what portion of protein g’s are best to come from animal sources to ensure the complete EAAs? So 1.6g x 69k = 110g minimum. If I get at least 90 g from animal products+ 20+ g from grains & veges, etc. am I good? Or do I need to increase the animal protein to 110 to make sure I’ve got the EAAs?
