“Your body can only digest 30 grams of protein.”
How many times have you heard this? Better yet, how many times have you said this to someone? Now the interesting thing is how often it changes; I’ve heard that you can only process 30 grams per day– More often, though, it’s 30 grams at one time.
So, where did this thought come from? No one knows, and when you ask someone for evidence to support this, everyone will point to something that a bodybuilder said, or that a mesomorphic gym rat said. The simple truth is. . . This is completely untrue, and has led to people not getting enough protein. So, where does this idea stem from?
My guess would be it comes from how much protein is needed to boost amino acid levels in the blood to kick start muscle building. 30 grams is all that’s needed, and by having more, you can’t increase the efficiency of muscle building. At some point, I’m sure someone was trying to convey this to someone who was consuming an obscene amount of protein post workout, and since no one would listen, they decided to add some invalid arguments that somehow stuck.
Is that how this myth came to be? Who knows, but I can speculate. Either way, this is one of the most widespread myths in health and fitness; Don’t listen to me though. You can read countless essays and articles from Dr. Mike Roussell, who got his Ph.D. in Nutrition from Penn State University. In one such article that discusses amino acid levels in blood for muscle building, Mike says:
“For whatever reason, people have long assumed that you can only digest 30 grams of protein at a time. Perhaps people thought our intestines contain a magical sensor that stopped absorbing protein once it registered 30 grams. Whatever the logic, your body can certainly digest much more than 30 grams of protein in one sitting.”
Think about it. . . There are sweeteners that your body does not digest, which is why they are both zero carb and zero calorie. If your body wouldn’t absorb the protein at a certain point, that would mean that there are less calories than you are tracking. Today, I’m going to eat a 12 oz. chicken breast, which contains 330 calories and 75 grams of protein. If my body could only absorb 30 grams of the protein (40% of the protein content), that would mean only 132 of those calories would count. Another question I would ask is, there are only 3 macro nutrients that make up calories (Unless you count alcohol, which are empty, non nutritive calories)– If your body isn’t digesting that protein, and there are no carbohydrates nor fat in that chicken. . . Where are those calories coming from? Nothing?
Simply put, your body can digest all of the protein you give it, and you should never use a myth to dictate your diet.