Saw this on Twitter:
This will probably be worth a blog post!
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Findings:
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Based on the current evidence, we conclude that to maximize anabolism one should consume protein at a target intake of 0.4 g/kg/meal across a minimum of four meals in order to reach a minimum of 1.6 g/kg/day. Using the upper daily intake of 2.2 g/kg/day reported in the literature spread out over the same four meals would necessitate a maximum of 0.55 g/kg/meal.
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The collective body of evidence indicates that total daily protein intake for the goal of maximizing resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength is approximately 1.6 g/kg
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It is therefore a relatively simple and elegant solution to consume protein at a target intake of 0.4 g/kg/meal across a minimum of four meals in order to reach a minimum of 1.6 g/kg/day – if indeed the primary goal is to build muscle. Using the upper CI daily intake of 2.2 g/kg/day over the same four meals would necessitate a maximum of 0.55 g/kg/meal.
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While research shows that consumption of higher protein doses (> 20 g) results in greater AA oxidation [40], evidence indicates that this is not the fate for all the additional ingested AAs as some are utilized for tissue-building purposes.
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I think the best way to do it is constant grazing instead of huge single meals.
Guerilla with a cause has a good few videos on the topic.
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Only problem with grazing is constantly elevating MPS and never allowing it to reach its baseline before being spiked again. That is another reason why Layne had this pretty much summed up in his MPS PowerPoint / PDF.
That’s like drinking a whey shake all day long or sipping on BCAA’s your always elevating muscle protein synthesis and never allowing it to reach baseline or refractory stages which you want to do before spiking it again. Anytime we ingest any source it will spike insulin to a degree controlling insulin sensitivity is always a key to maximizing your results weather dieting or gaining.
But again there are so many factors to consider
Lifestyle
What the client likes (larger or more meals)
What drugs the person uses (higher P ratio and more meals)
For many gym goers 4 is a sweet spot where you don’t need to prep too much food nor does it take away a lot of time from tracking your intake and achieving a social balance .
https://bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/meal-frequency-and-mass-gains.html/
All good reading on the given subject
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While I do agree with this, one big counter point I’d like to bring up is that muscle building is not a result of just spiking synthesis, but also decreases protein breakdown. For example, I’m sure we’ve all heard about how whey+casein leads to a better protein balance versus whey on its own. I don’t think grazing is necessarily better or worse than spreading meals out more, just different.
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