What Protein Can do For You

Combined with regular exercise eating enough protein at balanced intervals throughout the day will help you

  • Develop muscle strength;
  • Combat muscle loss during periods of enforced inactivity due to illness or injury;
  • Reduce the onset of Sarcopenia, a steady loss of lean muscle mass that occurs with advancing age.

Having a strategy to combat loss of strength can make a big difference in enabling us to achieve our goals.

What we Should Know About Protein

Recent research is revealing some very interesting perspectives on the importance of protein dosages and timing.  Here are a some of the key findings

  • Protein is the building block of muscle. 
  • An average adult needs 90g of protein per day or 1.3g of protein per kg of body weight.
  • On average, we can only use 30g of protein at any one time.   In general, we consume large amounts of protein in our main meal or more than the usable amount of protein.  Typically, our bodies can only process 30g of protein at any one time so excess protein consumed at this time cannot be synthesised and is thus wasted. 
  • We should be consuming a moderate amount of high quality protein in intervals throughout the day.  Here is the maths- our body can only utilise an average of 30g of protein at any one time but we typically require 90g of protein over the day.  Thus our protein intake should be spread throughout the day so our body can use the protein effectively.
  • We benefit from consuming protein in close proximity to exercise.  To fully benefit from the physical activity and exercise you undertake in terms of strengthening, you must have protein.  Physical activity partnered with good nutrition, including adequate and timely protein consumption, is integral to building and maintaining muscle mass.

Consuming enough protein at each meal is often not easy. FitFuel Nourish is an ideal way to get a boost in protein especially after lunch when food choices often make getting to the 30g protein target a tough ask.

Protein Supports Muscle Recovery

Eat 30g of protein 3 times per day

As mentioned, studies have shown that it is not just the total quantity of protein consumed in a day that determines how much protein synthesis (muscle building) occurs. The timing and individual meal totals for protein are very significant. The following scenario illustrates this point.

90g of protein is consumed in a single day in the following manner (this pattern of protein consumption is commonplace where the biggest portion of protein is consumed as meat in the evening meal):

  • Breakfast = 10g
  • Lunch = 15g
  • Dinner = 65g

Total consumed = 90g
Total amount of protein which contributes to building muscle = 55g

Studies have shown that the maximum amount of protein that the body is able to utilise for protein synthesis is 30g at a time, therefore in the above scenario the maximum amount of protein which can be used for protein synthesis is 55g. 35g of the protein consumed in the evening meal cannot contribute to muscle building.

However, in the example below, the exact same quantity of total daily protein is consumed but the amount of protein which contributes to building muscle is maximised

  • Breakfast = 30g
  • Lunch = 30g
  • Dinner = 30g

Total consumed = 90g
Total amount of protein which contributes to building muscle = 90g

“A skewed daily protein distribution fails to maximise the potential for muscle growth” (Paddon-Jones and Rasmussen 2009)

Consuming enough protein at each meal is often not easy. FitFuel Nourish is an ideal way to get a boost in protein especially after lunch when food choices often make getting to the 30g protein target a tough ask.

Reference Material

Douglas Paddon-Jones and Blake B. Rasmussen Dietary protein recommendations and the prevention of sarcopenia Protein, amino acid metabolism and therapy. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2009 January; 12(1): 86–90.

T. BROCK SYMONS, PhD; MELINDA SHEFFIELD-MOORE, PhD; ROBERT R. WOLFE, PhD; DOUGLAS PADDON-JONES, PhD A Moderate Serving of High-Quality Protein Maximally Stimulates Skeletal Muscle Protein Synthesis in Young and Elderly Subjects. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009;109:1582-1586

Evans WJ. Protein nutrition, exercise and aging. J Am Coll Nutr. 2004 Dec;23(6 Suppl):601S-609S

Cawood et al (2012), Ageing Research Review, Vol.11, Issue 2, 278-296

Potter et al, (2001) South Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust

Wynn M. & Wynn. A (2001) Journal of Nutrition and Health January 2001 vol. 15 no. 1 3-16