Measuring Protein needs
Measuring protein needs in different populations is usually accomplished by the nitrogen balance technique. This technique involves measuring the amount of nitrogen ingested (in protein sources), as well as measuring or estimating the amount of nitrogen excreted in the urine, sweat, and feces.
If the amount of nitrogen going into the body is greater than the amount of nitrogen leaving the body, it's said that the person is in positive nitrogen status. It's then assumed that the surplus protein retained in the body has been used to build up body tissues.
If the amount of nitrogen coming in is equivalent to the nitrogen going out, it's said that the person is in nitrogen balance. It's then assumed that the person is eating just enough protein to prevent deficiency but not enough to build additional tissue.
If the amount of nitrogen going into the body is less than the amount of nitrogen leaving the body, it's said that the person is in negative nitrogen status. It's then assumed that the person is protein deficient and in time they will begin to break down muscle tissue and, eventually, organ mass to provide for their basic amino-acid needs.
3 Myths about protein Myth 1. That you need about 1.5g/lb or 2g/lb of protein a day to build as much muscle as possible.
No, and here is why,
[Peter Lemon, Ph.D., and Mark Tarnopolsky, M.D., Ph.D.,. have conducted some of the best research in this area [Lemon et al. 1981, Lemon, 1997, Tarnopolsky et al. 1988, Tarnopolsky et al. 1992]. The results of these studies have demonstrated that both endurance and strength athletes often require more than double the protein of the average sedentary person.]
In this experiment different protein intakes were compared and the resulting nitrogen balances were reported. These data tell us that endurance athletes need at least 0.54-0.64g/lb. while strength athletes need at least 0.77-0.82g/lb. to achieve nitrogen balance.
Recall that the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for protein has been set at ONLY 0.36g/lb.
Most modern bodybuilders and strength athletes think that they need 1.5-2g/lb of bodyweight for two main reasons, the fist is that they think more is better. They feel that the more protein you have the better nitrogen balance you will have, therefore you will build more muscle. However Lemon has suggested that intakes over 0.82g/lb.-0.90g/lb. (1.8-2.0g/kg) may not be beneficial despite the apparent increases in positive nitrogen status. He believes that a ceiling may exist that prevents more muscle gain when eating above this level. One of the studies supported this in that although nitrogen balance was greater in subjects consuming 1.2g/lb vs. that consuming less protein for an 8-week weight training period, the higher protein group was no bigger.
And reason two, when test have been done they have only looked at the nitrogen balance, and nitrogen balance just shows the levels required to avoid body protein breakdown - not how much protein is optimal for development. Strength athletes are looking for absolute gains in strength and size - not minimal health requirements.
Myth 2. That your body can only digest X amount of protein at any given time and anything over that amount will turn to fat.
Again no, our bodies are great at digesting protein and amino acids. People have been perpetuating the myth that you can only digest about 30 grams of protein at a time, making protein meals any greater than a 6 oz. chicken breast a waste. This is anything but true. For example, the digestibility of meat (i.e. beef, poultry, pork and fish) is about 97% efficient. If you eat 25 grams of beef, you will absorb into the blood stream 97% of the protein in that piece of meat. If, on the other hand, you eat a 10 oz steak containing about 60 grams of protein, you will again digest and absorb 97% of the protein.
Excess protein calories are not as likely to be stored as body fat compared to carbs and most fats. This is because the metabolism and processing of protein is energy costly endeavour in that it's more thermogenic and
activates hormones that help with fat loss.
Myth 3. That high protein diets cause kidney problems.
Yet again no, much of the speculation about kidney dysfunction associated with high protein diets comes from early nutritional studies in renal patients (patients who already have kidney disease). While there are hundreds of studies showing that high protein diets are bad for kidney patients, I believe that a "leap" from clinical patients to healthy patients isn't warranted. It's this leap that has been the cause of the persistent but slowly dying (sorry for the word selection) idea that high protein diets could harm the kidneys.
Again, there's no evidence whatsoever that high protein diets will harm the kidneys of a healthy weightlifter. This is about as ridiculous as someone suggesting that because eating certain types of fibre can worsen the GI symptoms of someone with irritable bowel syndrome, fibre must cause irritable bowl syndrome in otherwise healthy people.
So how much protein should I have a day?
As discussed in myth 1 and myth 2 I would suggest taking 1g/lb of bodyweight and there is only two times that I would say you should go over this, First if your on a bulk because as stated in myth 2 protein doesn’t get stored as fat easily compared to carbs and fats. So it would be beneficial imo to take in about 1.3g/lb of bodyweight to get in some extra calories. And secondly when on the use of AAS or HGH. When on these your nitrogen excreted is greatly increased so you need to ingest more to keep a positive balance. In this case I suggest 2g/lb of bodyweight.
Ok so now I know how much I need, but what kinds and when?
Now it is important that you get all different types of protein because of the different amino acid profiles.
The only time you should have whey protein is post w/o. Whey has been clinically shown to increase protein synthesis by as much as 68% when consumed post workout. This is because whey gives your body a flood of amino acids very quickly, causing a rise in protein synthesis. Although there is a downside to this, because at any other time when it is taken by itself your body only uses about 30% of the amino acids. You see, whey gives your body such a quick flood of amino acids that the body thinks it has more protein than it actually does and it sends the "excess" to the liver, where it is oxidized and used as energy.
Casein is fine for anytime apart from post w/o. But imo should be kept for night time because it digests slowly and gives your body a constant stream of amino acids over a long period of time. During the day stick to egg, soy and meat.
Soy and Meat are also good for anytime of the day and you should try to eat both during some point of the day. Although keep whey as your post w/o protein source.
Egg protein has the best amino acid profile out of all the single proteins. Because of this I would say try to get most of your protein from eggs but without taking out other sources of protein and eggs are relatively cheap as well which is a bonus.
If you feel you cant eat all different types of protein through out the day, then take out soy.
Refrences
Extracts from articles by John Berardi
Extracts from articles by Layne Norton
(Sorry I forgot to write down the links to the different articles and also the some others names)
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