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#Post#: 293--------------------------------------------------
How Much Protein Is To Much
By: Road2HardCoreIron Date: May 24, 2018, 5:25 pm
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It's true that bodybuilders and weightlifters need to keep the
protein up in their diet in order to maintain and build the
large muscle mass which is so important to their sports or
recreation. Protein is found in meat, fish, chicken, beans,
milk, soy products like tofu, and in lesser amounts in nuts and
grains.
Daily Requirements
The estimated daily requirements are set by various nutrition
authorities in each country.
In the U.S., the Department of Agriculture (USDA) sets the
guidelines for nutrients like protein as well as other major
vitamins and minerals. For most people of average weight, the
protein intake is set at less than 70 grams each day.
Athletes may require quite a bit more than this to support the
repair and growth of muscle and to protect against the general
hardships of vigorous training and competing. Yet sports
nutrition authorities generally recommend no more than about
twice the daily recommended allowance applicable to less active
people.
Excess Protein Is Not Required
Some bodybuilders and weight training athletes have taken this
recommendation for extra protein to extraordinary limits and
well beyond any scientific recommendation. While excessive
protein seems to do no harm in healthy, active people up to a
point, the risk may be more substantial for someone with kidney
disease, are overweight, or have diabetes.
Excess protein beyond the requirements of the body is broken
down by amino acids into ketones, glucose, or energy cycle
intermediates for energy. Some protein is converted to ammonia
and then urea and excreted.
Getting excess protein is encouraged by the extraordinary vigor
of the powdered protein supplement industry in the weight
training and bodybuilding markets.
Skim milk powder can supply all the extra protein required and
at a fraction of the price of some expensive supplement brands.
Go through an example to demonstrate the dynamics of protein
requirements for weight training.
Three Ways of Determining Protein Requirements
It's possible to suggest a protein intake based on three ways to
calculate possible requirements.
Quantity per pound or kilogram of body weight per day.
Macronutrient percentages, for example a diet of 25 percent
protein.
The absolute amount of protein per day, 160 grams for example.
Here is how each of these may be determined.
Protein by body weight: While the protein requirements for adult
males are less than one gram per kilogram of body weight per
day, estimates for athletes based on studies that evaluate
nitrogen balance, a product of protein breakdown, suggest that
up to 2.5 grams/kilogram/day may be required in exceptional
circumstances. However, 2.0 grams/kilogram is used by many
sports nutritionists as an upper ceiling of protein intake for
athletes, weight trainers in particular. (Divide by 2.2 to get
protein in grams/pound body weight/day.) Much less than this is
going to be sufficient for moderate or less intense exercise.
Protein by macronutrient percentage: The macronutrients are a
carbohydrate, fat, and protein—essential elements in human
nutrition. Government Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) nominate
an upper level of protein intake at 35 percent of total energy.
For example, a 100-kilogram bodybuilder eating about 2
grams/protein/kilogram/day would eat 200 grams of protein each
day. Even on a diet of 4000 calories per day—not unusual for
heavy training—this diet is only 20 percent protein. Two hundred
grams of protein is equivalent to about 600 grams of chicken or
six grilled chicken breasts. Please note the 200 grams refers to
pure protein and not the weight of whole food. So in this sense,
moderately higher protein intakes do not exceed government
healthy eating guidelines.
Protein by daily intake: Considering that the U.S. Dietary
Reference Intake for an adult male of 100 kilograms is 80
grams/day (0.8 x 100), you can see that 2 grams/kilogram/body
weight/day for 200 grams total is substantially higher. Women
require slightly less than this, yet they will need slightly
more during pregnancy. Even though the standard dietary
reference intakes are calculated to meet the requirements of 98
percent of the population in a particular group, athletes need
more per kilo of body weight than sedentary people.
Extreme Protein Recommendations for Bodybuilding
A few bodybuilding and weight training coaches recommend protein
intakes of 40 percent of energy. An example is a diet of 40
percent protein, 40 percent carbohydrate, and 20 percent fat. In
the 4000 calorie diet of a 100-kilogram bodybuilder, 40 percent
protein would be 1600 calories, equivalent to 400 grams of
protein at 4 calories per gram. That's 4 grams/protein/kilogram
body weight/day; over four times the RDI and twice what's
scientifically defensible. Not good.
Fast and Slow Proteins
How quickly amino acids get transported to blood and how quickly
they then get assimilated into muscle and other tissue for
repair and rebuilding is the basis of this idea. According to
some enthusiasts, fast proteins such as whey are superior to
slow proteins like casein. Both are derivatives of milk
products. Examples are:
Egg protein: 1.3 grams/hour
Casein isolate: 6.1 grams/hour
Whey isolate: 8 to 10 grams/hour
There's not much evidence that these variations make a
difference to muscle building over the longer term, although
whey has shown some advantage in short-term studies.
Yet the other useful information that can be gleaned from the
numbers above is that with an average protein absorption of,
say, 7 grams/hour, a theoretical absorption is limited to around
168 grams each day. If accurate, it makes the 400 gram/day
protein diets look entirely unnecessary at best.
Safety of High-Protein Diets
Very high-protein diets may not be safe over time for the
following reasons:
High levels of nitrogen and amino acids can be toxic.
High-protein diets are not safe for those people with chronic
kidney disease. Up to 20 percent of the population may be
undiagnosed.
A Word From Verywell
What you might hear from others at the gym may not produce the
results you want and may not be in the best interests of your
health. One review found that bodybuilders were following a wide
variety of intake levels with no consideration of quality or
distribution throughout the day. It is wise not to use extreme
amounts of protein supplements. Get a checkup to ensure your
kidney function and other aspects of your health are good.
Sources:
Helms ER, Aragon AA, Fitschen PJ. Evidence-based recommendations
for natural bodybuilding contest preparation: nutrition and
supplementation. Journal of the International Society of Sports
Nutrition. 2014;11(1):20. doi:10.1186/1550-2783-11-20.
Helms ER, Zinn C, Rowlands DS, Brown SR. A Systematic Review of
Dietary Protein during Caloric Restriction in Resistance Trained
Lean Athletes: A Case for Higher Intakes. International Journal
of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. 2014;24(2):127-138.
doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2013-0054.
Jäger R, Kerksick CM, Campbell BI, et al. International Society
of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: protein and exercise.
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
2017;14(1). doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0177-8.
Spendlove J, Mitchell L, Gifford J, et al. Dietary Intake of
Competitive Bodybuilders. Sports Medicine. 2015;45(7):1041-1063.
doi:10.1007/s40279-015-0329-4.
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