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Does Everyone Need One Gram Per Pound of Protein?


  •   8 min reads
Does Everyone Need One Gram Per Pound of Protein?

Back in the nineties consuming one gram of protein per pound of body weight was the law of the land, but what we have learned over the last 30 years is that protein requirements really all come down to your specific goal.

This is one area of nutrition where I have changed my mind considerably in the last ten years, and I am currently unsure if the body recomposition protein number below will be tempered down into the 1.6 to 1.8 g/kg window. Honestly, I wouldn't even want to place a bet on how it will shake out.

Maximizing Muscle Gain:

If your goal is to maximize muscle gain, you likely want to be consuming at least 1.6-1.8 g/kg per day of protein, but more than that is unlikely to help you gain more muscle in the vast majority of circumstances. (It is plausible that being more trained may actually lower the amount of protein you need to still make optimal gains. This is essentially because you would be not be breaking down and building muscle to the same degree as someone who just started training, but the evidence here is limited and there is no real physiologic downside to covering your bets at 1.6 to 1.8 g/kg or even higher in a gain phase - unless overeating protein prevents you from getting into and staying in a caloric surplus. Conversely, those who are new to training who are potentially tearing down and building a significant amount of muscle mass may need slightly more protein...so one could make an argument that protein needs may decrease slightly as individuals become more trained.) [1-5].

Body Recomposition:

If your goal is to gain muscle while simultaneously losing body fat, it looks like you need to be hitting at least 2.2 g/kg per day of protein; however, we don’t have any studies directly testing ~1.6-1.8 g/kg yet, and while that amount may work, we just don’t know [6-8]. (If you are into protein by LBM...Longland et al., 2016 was around 3.4 g/kg LBM [6])

Fat Loss without Losing Muscle:

If your goal is fat loss and muscle maintenance, you may be able to take protein intake as low as ~1.0-1.2 g/kg with a lot of training on board [6, 9-11]. However, if you are highly trained with a significant amount of muscle it is likely in your best interest to stay above 1.6-1.8 g/kg during a cutting phase and, in my opinion, although it is potentially unlikely, in some circumstances why not try to shoot the moon and recomp anyways (this likely becomes increasingly less and less likely the leaner and more trained someone becomes) [12-16].

Weight and Muscle Maintenance with Endurance Training:

If you are not looking to lose or gain weight and just want to maintain muscle mass and you are into endurance training, you likely want to stay above 1.2 g/kg and with higher endurance training volumes you may want to keep it above 1.4 to 1.6 g/kg [17-19].

Weight and Muscle Maintenance for Life:

If you are not looking to lose or gain weight and just want to maintain muscle mass for functionality throughout the life course, and you are under the age of 60, you may be able to take your protein intake as low as 1.0 g/kg [20]. If you are over the age of 60, 1.2 g/kg per day is the lowest I would comfortably go [20, 21].

Those last three are probably significantly lower than most people in the nutrition and fitness world expected and I truly do embrace these lower amounts because they honestly give us more freedom to find individualized options that work better for more people!

All of the above scenarios are framed with the assumption that individuals are consuming high-quality, complete protein sources and strenuously fighting gravity (ideally through resistance training) multiple times per week. Vegan diets would likely need more protein while being mindful of food combinations to ensure a complete amino acid profile with enough leucine [20, 22]. However, with cooking and fermentation techniques [23, 24] coupled with food selection [25], it is very likely possible to meet these requirements with only plants.

As we have discussed previously HERE, without exercise the weight you lose on a diet will likely be 22-46% muscle [26, 27], and it does not appear that any amount of additional protein without exercise is going to completely attenuate muscle loss on a diet [28-32].

Additionally, without exercise, you will progressively lose strength and muscle mass as you age. However, with exercise, it is possible to maintain muscle mass throughout the life course [33, 34].

Finally, you don’t gain significant amounts of functional muscular tissue just by eating more protein. You have to challenge the system with resistance training and a program that invokes progressive overload.

Yet, in a significant state of overfeeding with higher protein intake, one can certainly gain fat and over time some the accrument of fat-free mass is likely (even without resistance training), and this makes sense given that in the general population BMI (Body Mass Index) correlates with FFMI (Fat-Free Mass Index) or more generally the bigger someone gets the more muscle mass and bone they will likely accumulate as they are potentially progressively carrying more and more load [35, 36].

REFERENCES:

1. Morton, R.W., et al., A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults. Br J Sports Med, 2018. 52(6): p. 376-384.

2. Morton, R.W., et al., Infographic. The effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength. Br J Sports Med, 2019. 53(24): p. 1552.

3. Bandegan, A., et al., Indicator Amino Acid-Derived Estimate of Dietary Protein Requirement for Male Bodybuilders on a Nontraining Day Is Several-Fold Greater than the Current Recommended Dietary Allowance. J Nutr, 2017. 147(5): p. 850-857.

4. Mazzulla, M., et al., Protein Intake to Maximize Whole-Body Anabolism during Postexercise Recovery in Resistance-Trained Men with High Habitual Intakes is Severalfold Greater than the Current Recommended Dietary Allowance. J Nutr, 2020. 150(3): p. 505-511.

5. Tinline-Goodfellow, C.T., et al., An Acute Reduction in Habitual Protein Intake Attenuates Post Exercise Anabolism and May Bias Oxidation-Derived Protein Requirements in Resistance Trained Men. Front Nutr, 2020. 7: p. 55.

6. Longland, T.M., et al., Higher compared with lower dietary protein during an energy deficit combined with intense exercise promotes greater lean mass gain and fat mass loss: a randomized trial. Am J Clin Nutr, 2016. 103(3): p. 738-46.

7. Campbell, B.I., et al., Effects of High Versus Low Protein Intake on Body Composition and Maximal Strength in Aspiring Female Physique Athletes Engaging in an 8-Week Resistance Training Program. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab, 2018. 28(6): p. 580-585.

8. Haun, C.T., et al., Effects of Graded Whey Supplementation During Extreme-Volume Resistance Training. Front Nutr, 2018. 5: p. 84.

9. Pearson, A.G., et al., A hypoenergetic diet with decreased protein intake does not reduce lean body mass in trained females. Eur J Appl Physiol, 2021. 121(3): p. 771-781.

10. Bryner, R.W., et al., Effects of resistance vs. aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate. J Am Coll Nutr, 1999. 18(2): p. 115-21.

11. Borges, J.H., et al., Exercise training and/or diet on reduction of intra-abdominal adipose tissue and risk factors for cardiovascular disease.Eur J Clin Nutr, 2019. 73(7): p. 1063-1068.

12. Roberts, B.M., et al., Nutritional Recommendations for Physique Athletes. J Hum Kinet, 2020. 71: p. 79-108.

13. Stokes, T., et al., Recent Perspectives Regarding the Role of Dietary Protein for the Promotion of Muscle Hypertrophy with Resistance Exercise Training. Nutrients, 2018. 10(2).

14. Hector, A.J. and S.M. Phillips, Protein Recommendations for Weight Loss in Elite Athletes: A Focus on Body Composition and Performance. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab, 2018. 28(2): p. 170-177.

15. Mettler, S., N. Mitchell, and K.D. Tipton, Increased protein intake reduces lean body mass loss during weight loss in athletes. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2010. 42(2): p. 326-37.

16. Barakat, C., et al., Body Recomposition: Can Trained Individuals Build Muscle and Lose Fat at the Same Time? Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2020. 42(5): p. 7-21.

17. Kato, H., et al., Protein Requirements Are Elevated in Endurance Athletes after Exercise as Determined by the Indicator Amino Acid Oxidation Method. PLoS One, 2016. 11(6): p. e0157406.

18. Chapman, S., et al., Dietary Intake and Nitrogen Balance in British Army Infantry Recruits Undergoing Basic Training. Nutrients, 2020. 12(7).

19. Knuiman, P., et al., Protein and the Adaptive Response With Endurance Training: Wishful Thinking or a Competitive Edge? Front Physiol, 2018. 9: p. 598.

20. Traylor, D.A., S.H.M. Gorissen, and S.M. Phillips, Perspective: Protein Requirements and Optimal Intakes in Aging: Are We Ready to Recommend More Than the Recommended Daily Allowance? Adv Nutr, 2018. 9(3): p. 171-182.

21. Morton, R.W., et al., Defining anabolic resistance: implications for delivery of clinical care nutrition. Curr Opin Crit Care, 2018. 24(2): p. 124-130.

22. Rogerson, D., Vegan diets: practical advice for athletes and exercisers. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2017. 14: p. 36.

23. Genoni, A., J.C. Craddock, and E.F. Strutt, Limitations of the Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score (DIAAS) and Choice of Statistical Reporting. Comment on "A Comparison of Dietary Protein Digestibility, Based on DIAAS Scoring, in Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian Athletes. Nutrients 2019, 11, 3106". Nutrients, 2020. 12(4).

24. Nkhata, S.G., et al., Fermentation and germination improve nutritional value of cereals and legumes through activation of endogenous enzymes. Food Sci Nutr, 2018. 6(8): p. 2446-2458.

25. Monteyne, A.J., et al., A mycoprotein-based high-protein vegan diet supports equivalent daily myofibrillar protein synthesis rates compared with an isonitrogenous omnivorous diet in older adults: a randomised controlled trial.Br J Nutr, 2020: p. 1-11.

26. Heymsfield, S.B., et al., Weight loss composition is one-fourth fat-free mass: a critical review and critique of this widely cited rule.Obes Rev, 2014. 15(4): p. 310-21.

27. Cava, E., N.C. Yeat, and B. Mittendorfer, Preserving Healthy Muscle during Weight Loss. Adv Nutr, 2017. 8(3): p. 511-519.

28. Backx, E.M., et al., Protein intake and lean body mass preservation during energy intake restriction in overweight older adults.Int J Obes (Lond), 2016. 40(2): p. 299-304.

29. Hill, A.M., et al., Type and amount of dietary protein in the treatment of metabolic syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr, 2015. 102(4): p. 757-70.

30. Gordon, M.M., et al., Effects of dietary protein on the composition of weight loss in post-menopausal women. J Nutr Health Aging, 2008. 12(8): p. 505-9.

31. Leidy, H.J., et al., Higher protein intake preserves lean mass and satiety with weight loss in pre-obese and obese women. Obesity (Silver Spring), 2007. 15(2): p. 421-9.

32. Pasiakos, S.M., et al., Effects of high-protein diets on fat-free mass and muscle protein synthesis following weight loss: a randomized controlled trial. FASEB J, 2013. 27(9): p. 3837-47.

33. Wilkinson, D.J., M. Piasecki, and P.J. Atherton, The age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass and function: Measurement and physiology of muscle fibre atrophy and muscle fibre loss in humans. Ageing Res Rev, 2018. 47: p. 123-132.

34. McKendry, J., et al., Muscle morphology and performance in master athletes: A systematic review and meta-analyses. Ageing Res Rev, 2018. 45: p. 62-82.

35. Bray, G.A., et al., Effect of Three Levels of Dietary Protein on Metabolic Phenotype of Healthy Individuals With 8 Weeks of Overfeeding. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2016. 101(7): p. 2836-43.

36. Bray, G.A., et al., Effect of Overeating Dietary Protein at Different Levels on Circulating Lipids and Liver Lipid: The PROOF Study.Nutrients, 2020. 12(12).

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