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By Will Brink
Many people think you eat some protein,
it mixes with some acid or something, gets broken down into amino
acids, gets taken up into the body, and everyone is happy.
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I wish it were that simple.
As with all foods, the breakdown of protein starts in the
mouth with the simple chewing of food and the exposer to certain
enzymes. In the stomach, food mixes with enzymes and other
factors such as lipase, pepsin, intrinsic factor, and of course
HCL (stomach acid).
It moves onto the small intestine
and then the large intestine.The small intestine is considered
the major anatomical site of food digestion and nutrient absorption
and is made up of section such as the duodenum, jejunum, and
the ileum. Pancreatic enzymes (chymotrypsin, trypsin, etc.),
bile salts, gastrin, cholecystokinin, pepidases, as well as
many others factors are released here.
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The large intestine is composed of
the ascending colon, transverse colon, descending colon, and the
sigmoid colon, which all play a part in absorbing the nutrients
we eat. Sound complicated? It is. Believe me, I am leaving out a
great deal of information so you wont fall asleep reading my little
column! Suffice it to say, digestion is a very complicated thing
and there are many places along the chain of digestion that can
both enhance and degrade a persons ability to absorb the foods we
eat.
There is no reason to think that among
this complicated process that there are not wide individual differences
in a persons ability to digest and absorb protein. For some person
who is inactive, elderly, and for what ever reason lives with compromised
digestion, 30 grams of protein at one sitting might very well be
too much for them to handle.
By the same token, assuming a
220lbs healthy athlete is unable to exceed 30 grams of protein in
one sitting is neither proven by medical science or even logical
in my view.
So what if the 30 gram rule turns
out to be true? If we examine some of the more recent studies on
the protein requirements of athletes done by researchers from both
the United Sates and Canada, we come to some recommended protein
intakes that far exceed the RDAs, some times by as much as 225%!
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These researchers
came to the conclusion that protein intakes for athletes should
range from approximately 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram
of bodyweight for endurance athletes and up to 1.8g of protein
per kg for strength training athletes. For a 200 pound bodybuilder-a
strength training athlete-that would be approximately 164
grams of protein per day (most bodybuilders I know eat considerably
more protein per day, but that's for another fight and another
article...).
Assuming that 30
grams of protein is the most anyone can digest, absorb, and
utilize, this person would have to split his intake into about
five meals (164 divided by 30 = 5.47). So, given the advice
by many people that 30 grams is all anyone can digest at a
single sitting, it appears a person can achieve the goal of
30 grams of protein per meal even with the higher intakes
recommended in the modern research (assuming they are willing
or able to eat five meals per day).
However, if you
happen to eat more than that per meal as a healthy athlete
I don't think you have anything to worry about. I won't tell
anyone. Me, I would suggest you stick to the one gram per
pound of bodyweight rule, which often exceeds the research
mentioned above.
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Books By Will Brink
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| Fat
Loss Revealed is the ultimate fat loss system. A
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trainers. |
Bodybuilding
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These books are in PDF format
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About
The Author
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Will Brink has over 15
years experience as a respected author, columnist and
consultant, to the supplement, fitness, bodybuilding,
and weight loss industry and has been extensively published.Will
graduated from Harvard University with a concentration
in the natural sciences, and is a consultant to major
supplement, dairy, and pharmaceutical companies.
His often ground breaking
articles can be found in publications such as Lets Live,
Muscle Media 2000, MuscleMag International, The Life
Extension Magazine, Muscle & Fitness, Inside Karate,
Exercise For Men Only, Body International, Power, Oxygen,
Penthouse, Women’s World and The Townsend Letter
For Doctors.
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