{"id":62461,"date":"2025-04-30T08:37:14","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T08:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/62461\/"},"modified":"2025-04-30T08:37:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T08:37:14","slug":"the-best-time-to-eat-protein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/62461\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Time to Eat Protein"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story is part of a series on navigating the new world of Peak Protein, from the latest packaged products to emerging research. Read the rest of the stories here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

IF TRYING TO <\/strong>load up on all the protein you need every day is feeling like a chore, new science might provide some relief.
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For a long time, the thinking was that your body could only use about 20 grams of protein<\/a> at a time because it can\u2019t store protein the way it can store carbs<\/a> and fat<\/a>. Your body would, however, take in the amino acids from that 20 grams and use them to make valuable, strength-building proteins in your muscles. Anything above that? Your muscles would snub it and that protein would just be calories<\/a>. <\/p>\n

That meant giving yourself a steady, slow drip of protein. And depending on which protein recommendations you\u2019re paying attention to, that approach could mean dumping 20 grams of protein into your body five to eight times a day. Every day. (And you thought it was the lifting that was exhausting.)<\/p>\n

But some emerging research suggests you don\u2019t have to be that strict\u2014thank goodness. Here\u2019s the truth about what your body does with protein and when.<\/p>\n

Does Protein Timing Matter?<\/p>\n

SORT OF.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s great if you consume protein around the time you do your workout. \u201cExercise temporarily sensitizes skeletal muscle to the provision of amino acids,\u201d says James McKendry, PhD<\/a>, who runs a research lab on muscle and nutrition at The University of British Columbia.<\/p>\n

In other words, muscles are a little more eager to take in those amino acids after exercise than they are if you\u2019ve just been sitting around. But getting in your post-workout shake doesn\u2019t have to be an emergency situation. Your body is more accommodating than that, at least according to a recent study.
<\/p>\n

Luc van Loon, PhD,<\/a> professor of physiology of exercise and nutrition at Maastricht University, and his team, wanted to find out how capable the human body is of using larger amounts of protein over longer periods of time. In a small study<\/a> published in Cell Reports Medicine, the researchers gave people 100 grams of protein and then monitored their muscles for far longer than the usual four to six hours\u2014to upwards of 12 hours. \u201cWe saw that actually, if you give more protein, you get a more prolonged stimulation of muscle protein synthesis,\u201d he says. In other words, their muscles kept productively using that protein long after they\u2019d eaten it. <\/p>\n

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\u201cIn fact, if you perform EXERCISE<\/a>, you will get a GREATER RESPONSE IN MUSCLE BUILDING<\/a> from EVERY MEAL<\/a> you ingest UP TO 24 HOURS LATER<\/a>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What if you could eat more protein on days you lift heavy and then take the stress off all that protein prioritizing on days you don\u2019t? Well, you kind of can.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re telling everybody to ingest 100 grams of protein with each main meal,\u201d he says. \u201cBut you don\u2019t have to worry too much about missing a meal or missing your protein. In fact, if you perform exercise, you will get a greater response in muscle building from every meal you ingest up to 24 hours later,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

The team even looked into whether eating lots of protein one day might render your muscles \u201cfull,\u201d so to speak, and not as excited about taking up more amino acids and synthesizing protein the next day. \u201cThat didn\u2019t seem to be the case,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

One important point: \u201cProtein synthesis\u201d doesn\u2019t mean \u201cbig muscles<\/a>.” <\/p>\n

Muscle protein synthesis generally means your muscles are aiming to make themselves better in some way\u2014bigger, stronger, able to endure more stress. But be aware that van Loon\u2019s study tagged the building blocks of this process (amino acids) and measured how much incorporated into the subjects\u2019 muscles. \u201cYou can see if uptake is high or low after you exercise and after you eat,\u201d van Loon says, \u201cBut it doesn\u2019t tell you anything about whether there\u2019s a net increase in muscle mass.\u201d <\/p>\n

When Should You Eat Protein for Muscle?<\/p>\n

AS VAN LOON\u2019S<\/strong> research suggests, \u201cwhen\u201d is adjustable.<\/p>\n

\u201cProvided that your low days aren\u2019t excessively low [below 0.8 g\/kg\/day] and your average daily intake is close to the recommended amount for hypertrophy\u2014in the range of 1 to 1.8 g\/kg\/day\u2014coupled with exercise training, I doubt there would be a significant difference in adaptation,\u201d says McKendry. <\/p>\n

So yeah, you can do, say, 1.6 g\/kg on days you lift heavy and get 0.8 g\/kg on days you don\u2019t. Or, you can just do 1g per gram of target body weight every day. Whatever works for you.<\/p>\n

Just remember what Stuart Phillips, PhD<\/a>, distinguished professor in the department of kinesiology at McMaster University, says about muscle building: \u201cExercise bakes the cake; protein is the icing. Going to the gym and lifting consistently are far more important than protein.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Marty Munson, currently the health director of Men’s Health, has been a health editor at properties including Marie Claire, Prevention, Shape and RealAge. She’s also certified as a swim and triathlon coach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story is part of a series on navigating the new world of Peak Protein, from the latest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4318],"tags":[17687,32305,14732,105,1381,4434,32304,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-62461","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-content-type-how-to-service","9":"tag-contentid-0fd437a3-e49d-4541-ae74-4a1f34a6c427","10":"tag-displaytype-long-form-article","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-locale-us","13":"tag-nutrition","14":"tag-shorttitle-the-rules-of-protein-timing-are-changing","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114426009602415648","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}