One of the key articles of faith of modern sports nutrition is that your body can only use a certain amount of protein at a time. Opinions differ on what that amount is. It might be as little as 20 grams; it might be as much as 40 grams, particularly for older adults whose bodies are less sensitive to the muscle-growth-stimulating effects of protein. Maybe it needs to be expressed relative to body size, like 0.4 grams per kilogram of body weight, rather than as a fixed number. Those details don’t matter here; the point is that there’s a maximum.
The reason that’s important is that most North Americans eat lots of protein, but don’t spread it evenly throughout the day. A typical pattern might be 10 to 15 grams at breakfast and lunch, then 65 grams or more at dinner. That means that at breakfast and lunch, you’re not getting enough protein to max out the synthesis of new muscle protein. At dinner, on the other hand, you’re getting too much, so the excess will simply be burned for energy. The better solution, according to this logic, is to smooth out your protein consumption so that you’re getting at least…
