I find a huge variation in daily recommended protein intake when I search online and it is quite frustrating. I am going to the gym regularly and trying to build muscle so this has recently become important to me as I don’t want to accidentally have a protein deficiency. Currently I use a protein powder and eat a lot of beans and lentils. I usually get 60g at least and I get the full spectrum of amino acids from other parts of my diet. I just do not believe I need double this as is currently recommended by the US government.
Anyone have studies on this? Recommendations for bodybuilding while vegan?
Not vegan myself but aspiring to be, been vegetarian for years though, and very into weightlifting. But the research around protein is generally consistent and metaanalyses support them: around 1 g per lb of body weight per day will maximize muscle growth for most people. However, for many people 0.7g/lb is sufficient; we all utilize it with different levels of efficiency. Others continue to find benefit at even higher levels than 1g/lb though. I personally stick to the 1 g/lb rule because with plant proteins I generally dont get my full amino acid recommendations from less than that. However you will still build muscle with less protein, it will just take longer. Protein deficiency doesn’t generally kick in until your levels are really low, like <50g/day sustained type of levels.
Make sure the rest of your nutrition is dialed in as well though, calories in aggregate are as important as protein. If you’re accidentally in a deficit when you’re trying to bulk, you’ll likely lose muscle no matter how hard you train or how much protein you eat proportionally, unless you have fat to burn to fuel that growth. And vice versa, an accidental surplus can harm your body recomposition if that’s what you’re going for.
I know some of the recommendations seem outlandish. I’m a naturally skinny person and once I started tracking my food I was shocked by how much I was undereating for my goals, and how much less protein I was getting than I thought. I was ~130 lbs when I started getting into fitness, now closing in on a lean 180. The recommendations are accurate, you need a lot of protein, and a lot of food to bulk up (hardest part for me is eating enough to even get to my surplus tbh)
Editing this to clarify: this is to maximize growth. You do not need to hit these levels in order to gain muscle, but to gain the most muscle for the work you do. I like to optimize my diet and exercise to get the very best outcomes, it is fun for me, but i know many don’t find it enjoyable or healthy for them. You can keep those numbers in mind and set your sights wherever is most realistic for you. Less protein might mean a tradeoff in growth rates, but more protein might mean tradeoffs in your preferred diet and budget for meals etc. These questions are deeply personal and driven by your individual goals and situation.
I’m pretty sure that’s too much, a lot of it is just going to be metabolized into sugars.
I think the 1 g/lb rule stuck with you because it’s easy to remember, not because it’s real.
No, it’s a level that is supported by research
I don’t think that’s what it says?
It says 1.2 to 1.6 g/(kg·day) which can also be written as 1.2 to 1.6g/(2.2lbs·day) which then comes out to 0.5 to 0.7 g/(lb·day)
… I think, unless I really mangled that unit conversion.
That is true but in the literature for athletes they do recommend higher levels especially during caloric deficits. That’s where I get my range from, being 0.7 to 1 g/day for maximum muscle growth. Perhaps I’m too biased towards the specialized papers but i think my range is still representative
Nice and easy round numbers like 1 g/(lb·day) set off warning alarms in my head, seems like a gimmick.
0.7 g/(lb·day) was in the link you gave, but was listed as the upper part of the range.
Also, “athlete” covers a lot of ground. Is someone lifting three days a week to build muscle an athlete?
I gave 3 links, and the one covering intensely trained athletes cutting mentioned 2.4 g/kg as being the upper end of what is generally recommended for athletes. Thats a little over 1 g/lb.
I definitely didn’t notice three links - I assumed the sentence was a single link! The fact that two of the three of your links don’t support 1 g/(lb·day) is notable, though. In fact, one of them says that anything greater than 0.73 g/(lb·day) do not further contribute gains.
The other link which supports 1g still runs into the problem of what is an “athlete”? Or even an “elite athlete”? Is someone just lifting for strength an elite athlete? It’s imprecise wording and makes it hard to evaluate.
Damn that sounds miserable though. Guess I’ll be taking it a bit slow lol. Despite my dietary restrictions I do still get all my amino acids via the three sisters. Probably not in the ideal quantities but I definitely get them.
You should be alright. You dont have to optimize every factor to make progress, and especially at the beginning you will progress quite quickly just by showing up and doing the work. I wouldn’t sweat those details so long as you are getting enough to feel good and are making progress.