Protein Absorption rates

slicus ricus

I reckon it's more appropriate to put this here than in the Diet & Nutrition forum because it's specifically related to protein and the amounts one's body can absorb.

Does anyone know what sort of ranges of protein the body is capable of absorbing at a given time? Obviously, for muscle growth and repair, it's advisable to eat a mimimum of 25gs of protein every 2.5 - 3.5 hours. Is there a limit as to how much protein the body will absorb and does this limit vary according to body mass or any other factors?

Also, was wondering if drinking a cup of tea or coffee in between protein meals will have an adverse affect on the body absorbing the protein ingested earlier? Might sound like a silly question but the basis of my wondering is that if you give the body a higher workload, I would assume something has got to give.

g'em

This article discusses protein absorption: http://www.humankinetics.com/eJournalMedia/pdfs/5642.pdf

slicus ricus

Cheers g'em, I never would have found that in a million years of googling! I'll print that out and have a good read through it later.

BossArky

g'em wrote: »

This article discusses protein absorption: http://www.humankinetics.com/eJournalMedia/pdfs/5642.pdf

I have managed to condense that article down to a one liner (from the summary on page 145):

Absorption rates of amino acids from the gut can vary from 1.4 g/h for raw egg white to 8 to 10 g/h for whey protein isolate

If anyone can summarise it better let's have it.

Jonny303

Bossarky, does that mean then that with the slower absorbtion rate of egg white protein, if taken in a certain quantity (20g) there is more chance of more of it passing through your system unused?

BossArky

That is how I would interpret it. Can someone else clarify?

g'em

Jonny303 wrote: »

Bossarky, does that mean then that with the slower absorbtion rate of egg white protein, if taken in a certain quantity (20g) there is more chance of more of it passing through your system unused?

Not necessarily, but that's the point being raised by the authors - it's not a simplistic answer. Certain proteins will create better conditions for absorption over others. I'm still trying to make sense of the article myself...

J-Fit

slicus ricus wrote: »

Also, was wondering if drinking a cup of tea or coffee in between protein meals will have an adverse affect on the body absorbing the protein ingested earlier? Might sound like a silly question but the basis of my wondering is that if you give the body a higher workload, I would assume something has got to give.

There may well be an interaction but my own opinion is that when we become too pedantic we have gone too far. Life often gets in the way of our fitness goals both voluntarily and involuntarily and I myself wouldn't worry too much about the impact of drinking tea or coffee on protein absorption.

slicus ricus

J-Fit wrote: »

There may well be an interaction but my own opinion is that when we become too pedantic we have gone too far. Life often gets in the way of our fitness goals both voluntarily and involuntarily and I myself wouldn't worry too much about the impact of drinking tea or coffee on protein absorption.

Lol, great response mate!:D I wasn't so much worrying about the impact of tea or coffee itself. I was more wondering about whether consumption of it or anything else for that matter between protein meals would have an impact. It might seem like a strange one but something that entered my mind. Any ideas?

kumate_champ07

slicus ricus wrote: »

Lol, great response mate!:D I wasn't so much worrying about the impact of tea or coffee itself. I was more wondering about whether consumption of it or anything else for that matter between protein meals would have an impact. It might seem like a strange one but something that entered my mind. Any ideas?

did u not read his reply?

slicus ricus

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

did u not read his reply?

Yes, of course I read his reply! I then posed the question of whether consumption of drinks or foods for that matter in between protein meals adversely affects protein absorption, which he had not previously answered in his reply.

kumate_champ07

slicus ricus wrote: »

Yes, of course I read his reply! I then posed the question of whether consumption of drinks or foods for that matter in between protein meals adversely affects protein absorption, which he had not previously answered in his reply.

but if u read his answer again you will notice it also applies to your 'new' question

J-Fit

slicus ricus wrote: »

Yes, of course I read his reply! I then posed the question of whether consumption of drinks or foods for that matter in between protein meals adversely affects protein absorption, which he had not previously answered in his reply.

I thought I did answer this to be fair. Though I'm not sure whether I'm correct or not. If there is an effect it is absolutley miniscule and my overall point was that we cannot always control every variable so we shouldn't really worry.